THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


v 


G>  O 

I 


RECOLLECTIONS 


OF    A 


MINISTER  TO   FRANCE 


VOL.   I. 


RECOLLECTIONS 


OF    A 


MINISTER  TO  FRANCE 


1869—1877 


BY 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE,  LL.D. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOL.  I. 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1887 

[All  Rights  Reserved} 


COPYRIGHT,  1886,  i8S7,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIRNF.R'S  SONS. 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


library 

DC 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    EMPIRE. 

PAGE 

Beginning  ot  the  Term  of  Service  in  France — Arrival  in  Paris — Paris  in 
1869 — Presentation  to  the  Emperor  and  Empress — General  Dix — An 
Election  for  the  Corps  Legislatif — Discontent  in  Paris — M.  Rouher — 
"Transcontinental,  Memphis,  El  Paso  and  Pacific  Railway  "—Prince 
de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne — Postal  Treaty — Visit  to  the  Imperial  Palace 
at  Compiegne — Opening  of  the  Corps  Legislatif — New  Year's  at  the 
Tuileries — Change  of  Ministry — M.  Ollivier i 

CHAPTER   II. 

THE    DECLARATION    OF    WAR. 

Significance  of  the  Hohenzollern  Incident — King  William's  Rumored  Insult 
to  the  French  Ambassador — Some  Traits  of  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press of  France — Americans  at  Court — The  Last  Grand  Dinner  at  the 
Tuileries — War  Declared — German  Subjects  Placed  under  the  Pro- 
tection of  the  United  States  Minister — An  Important  Question  in  In- 
ternational Law 29 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE    FIRST    FRENCH    DEFEATS. 

Suppression  of  the  News  in  Paris — Crowds  Exasperated  by  a  False  Report 
of  Victory — Paris  Declared  in  a  State  of  Siege — An  Interview  with 
the  Empress — Expulsion  of  the  Germans — An  Extraordinary  Session 
of  the  Corps  Legislatif — The  Fall  of  a  Ministry — A  Panic  among  Ger- 
man Residents 55 


vi  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    PROCLAMATION    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 


PAGE 


A  Night  Session  of  the  Corps  Lt?gislatif— The  Bonaparte  Dynasty  De- 
clared Fallen — Plans  for  a  Government  of  National  Defence — Upris- 
ing of  the  People — Gambetta  Proclaims  the  Republic  of  France  — 
Flight  of  the  Empress — Judge  Erskine's  Recollections — Recognition 
of  the  New  Government  by  the  United  States  Minister 100 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    FIRST    WEEKS    OF    THE    SIEGE. 

Closing  of  the  Gates  on  September  18,  1870— Street  Scenes — Victor 
Hugo's  Return  from  Exile — Panic  of  the  French  Troops — Favre's  In- 
terview with  Bismarck — The  Spy  Episode — Scarcity  of  Fresh  Meat 
and  Abundance  of  Bread — General  Burnside's  Visit — Bismarck's 
Special  Favor  to  the  United  States  Minister — A  Diplomatic  Corre- 
spondence   133 

CHAPTER   VI. 

MONOTONOUS   DAYS    IN    THE    BESIEGED    CITY. 

Gambetta's  Departure  for  Tours  by  Balloon — A  Sketch  of  his  Remark- 
able Career — His  Rapid  Rise  from  Obscurity  to  Power — Personal 
Qualities— Disorder  in  the  Streets  of  Paris — The  Tuileries  Corre- 
spondence— Another  Visit  from  General  Burnside — A  Succession  of 
Rainy.  Uneventful  Days — Departure  of  Americans  from  Paris — Bis- 
marck's Memoir  on  the  Hopeless  Struggle 1 74. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

FIRST    MUTTERIXGS    OF    THE    COMMUNE. 

The  Revolution  of  a  Day — Imprisonment  of  the  Government  of  National 
Defence— A  Farcical  Proceeding — Leaders  of  the  Red  Republican 
Movement— Speedy  Overthrow  of  their  Municipal  Government- 
Restoration  of  Order — Election  Day — A  Large  Majority  in  Favor  of 
the  Republic — A  Dreary  Thanksgiving  Day  208 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

DESPERATE    SORTIES   OF    THE    FRENCH    TROOPS. 

PAGE 

General  Ducrot's  Effort  to  Break  Through  the  Prussian  Lines — Defeated 
and  Driven  Back — Sufferings  of  the  Troops  from  the  Intense  Cold — 
Disaster  to  the  Army  of  the  Loire — The  Parisians  Determined  to 
Hold  Out — Gloomy  Winter  Days  in  the  Besieged  City — Another  Un- 
successful Sortie 238 

CHAPTER    IX. 

BEFORE    AND    DURING    THE    BOMBARDMENT. 

A  Gloomy  Christmas  Day — Scarcity  of  Meat  and  Fuel — The  Parisians 
Losing  Heart — Recollections  of  an  Illinois  Campaign — Dismal  Open- 
ing of  the  New  Year — Beginning  of  the  Bombardment — Shells  Burst- 
ing in  the  City  Streets — The  Killed  and  Wounded— Protest  of  the 
Diplomatic  Corps 272 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE    END    OF    THE    SIEGE. 

Diplomatic  Correspondence — Bismarck  Explains  the  Taking  of  Hostages 
by  the  Germans — Controversy  over  the  American  Despatch  Bag 
— The  Last  Days  of  the  Bombardment — Another  Great  and  Fruit-. 
less  Sortie — Trochu  Succeeded  by  Vinoy— The  Uproar  of  the  Mob 
— Fired  upon  by  the  Mobiles — An  Armistice  at  Last — The  Siege 
Raised .  .  302 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL  PAGE   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PORTRAIT  OF  E.  B.  WASHBURNE Frontispiece. 

TO   FACE   PAGE 

NAPOLEON  III 34 

GAMBETTA  PROCLAIMING  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  FRANCE  108 

MAP  OF  PARIS  AND  ENVIRONS 133 

GAMBETTA  LEAVING  PARIS  IN  A  BALLOON 1 76 

GERMAN  SHELLS  FALLING  IN  THE  LATIN  QUARTER    294 

RUINS  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  ST.  CLOUD 320 


ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   THE   TEXT. 


PAGE 


GENERAL  JOHN  A.  Dix 5 

PALACE  OF  COMPIEGNE 16 

CORPS  LEGISLATIF 19 

EMILE  OLLIVIER 21 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  A  NOTE  FROM  M.  OLLIVIER 25 

PRINCE  LEOPOLD  OF  HOHENZOLLERN 29 

CARLSBAD 31 

M.  BENEDETTI 33 

THE  GERMAN  EMBASSY  IN  THE  RUE  DE  LILLE 40 


X  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PACK 

THE  BOURSE  ON  AUGUST  6 60 

DEMONSTRATION  AGAINST  OLLIVIER 62 

THE  KM  PRESS  EUGENIE 66 

JUI.ES  FAVRE 76 

GARNIER-PAGES 78 

GENERAL  TROCHU  94 

TUMULT  IN  THE  HALL  OF  DEPUTIES  107 

GEORGE  KUSTIS,  JR 112 

M.  CREMIEUX 119 

MR.  WASHBURNE  RECEIVES  A  DELEGATION  OF  FRENCH  CITIZENS 123 

THE  AMERICAN  LEGATION  AT  PARIS 126 

TRANSFER  OF  GENERAL  BURNSIDE  AND  MR.  FORBES  AT  THE  BRIDGE 

OF  SEVRES  1 57 

LEON  GAMBETTA 1 83 

THE  STATUE  OF  STRASBURG  DECORATED  BY  THE  PEOPLE 193 

PORTE  DE  CRETEIL 200 

MARSHAL  BAZAINE 223 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  NOTE  FROM  MARSHAL  BAZAINE  225 

AN  AMBULANCE  AFTER  THE  SORTIE 239 

NATIONAL  GUARD  ON  THE  CHAMPS  ELYSEES 241 

ON  THE  RAMPARTS     244 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE  EMPRESS  EUGENIE'S  NOTE 316 

CHATEAU  DE  LA  MUETTE i 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF 
A  MINISTER  TO   FRANCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    EMPIRE. 

Beginning  of  term  of  Service  in  France— Arrival  in  Paris — Paris  in  1869— 
Presentation  to  the  Emperor  and  Empress— General  Dix — An  election 
for  the  Corps  L6gislatif—  Discontent  in  Paris— M.  Rouher— "  Transcon- 
tinental, Memphis,  El  Paso  and  Pacific  Railway" — Prince  de  La  Tour 
d'Auvergne— Postal  Treaty— Visit  to  the  Imperial  Palace  at  Compiegne 
— Opening  of  the  Corps  Le'gislatif— New  Year's  at  the  Tuileries — Change 
of  Ministry — M.  Ollivier. 

I  PROPOSE  to  record  my  reminiscences  in  Paris  and 
France  from  the  spring  of  1869  to  the  fall  of  1877. 

My  term  of  service  as  Minister  of  the  United  States  to 
France  was  eight  years  and  a  half,  which  was  a  longer 
term  than  that  of  any  diplomatic  representative  we  ever 
had  in  that  country.  It  comprised  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting epochs  in  history,  and  embraced  the  siege  and 
Commune  of  Paris.  I  write  from  my  personal  knowl- 
edge and  personal  recollection,  and  narrate  circumstances 
and  events  as  they  passed  under  my  own  observation. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  March,  1869,  I  was  commissioned 
as  Secretary  of  State  under  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Grant.  Failing  health  admonished  me  that  I  should 
not  be  able  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  office,  and 


2  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

after  serving  in  the  State  Department  .until  the  seven- 
teenth day  of  March,  1869,  I  sent  in  my  resignation, 
and  was  then  commissioned  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France.  Leaving  New  York 
on  the  French  steamer  Pfreire,  on  the  first  day  of  May, 
1869,  in  twelve  days  I  found  myself  in  Paris.  Major- 
General  John  A.  Dix,  of  New  York,  was  my  predecessor, 
and  in  a  few  days  after  my  arrival  he  put  me  in  commu- 
nication with  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the 
Marquis  de  La  Valette.  The  Marquis  was  a  man  of  much 
experience  in  diplomatic  affairs,  a  member  of  the  Senate, 
and  had  been  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  member  of 
the  Conseil  Prive  before  entering  into  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  He  was  a  man  of  genteel  personal  ap- 
pearance, and  very  polite  and  agreeable.  After  he  re- 
tired from  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  he  was  sent 
as  Ambassador  to  London.  In  a  few  months,  however, 
he  returned  to  Paris,  and  took  his  place  in  the  Senate, 
where  he  sat  until  the  revolution  of  the  fourth  of  Septem- 
ber, 1870,  and  then  entered  into  private  life.  He  mar- 
ried an  American  lady,  a  widow  with  a  large  fortune. 
But  like  most  American  ladies  who  have  married  titled 
foreigners  or  men  in  high  position,  she  had  as  little  to 
do  with  Americans  as  possible. 

General  Dix  and  the  Marquis  de  La  Valette  arranged 
for  the  presentation  of  my  letters  of  credence  to  the  Em- 
peror, on  Sunday  the  twenty-third  day  of  May,  1869. 
It  was  to  me  an  entry  upon  a  new  career,  and  into  a 
held  in  which  I  had  never  had  any  experience. 

Paris,  then  the  most  attractive  city  in  the  world,  was 
bright  and  beautiful,  as  it  always  is  in  that  vernal  season 
of  the  year.  The  Emperor,  residing  at  the  Tuileries, 
was  in  the  midst  of  a  brilliant  court,  and  was  sur- 
rounded with  glittering  splendor.  Princes  and  Dukes, 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  3 

Marquises,  Counts  and  Barons,  maintained  their  but- 
terfly existence,  and  the  grandes  dames,  in  their  splen- 
did toilets,  promenaded  in  their  gilded  phaetons  on  the 
magnificent  Avenue  of  the  Champs  Elysees,  or  in  the 
winding  and  shady  alleys  of  the  Forest  of  Boulogne. 
Milliners  in  the  Rue  de  la  Paix,  tailors  in  the  Chaussee 
d'Antin,  sober  old  merchants  in  the  Rue  St.  .Honore, 
grand  proprietors  of  immense  establishments  like  the 
Bon  Marche  and  the  Louvre,  the  bankers  on  the  Rue 
Laffitte,  and  the  little  shop-keepers  and  the  barbers  on 
the  Boulevards,  reaped  rich  harvests  from  the  great 
outside  world,  which  poured  its  gold  into  the  lap  of 
Paris,  and,  in  return,  carried  to  all  lands  and  into  every 
clime  all  that  ingenuity  and  skill  could  invent  to  gratify 
the  taste  and  tempt  the  appetite.  The  cry  of  "  Vive 
fEmpereur"  uttered  by  the  courtiers  and  parasites,  was 
often  heard  in  the  streets,  and  was  responded  to  by  a 
giddy  throng  in  Paris,  which,  flattered  by  the  counter- 
feit consideration  of  the  government,  dazzled  by  the  glit- 
ter of  the  court,  or,  fattening  on  the  wealth  of  royalty, 
abandoned  itself  to  the  falsehood  of  pleasant  dreams, 
and  bowed  down  before  the  false  glory  and  the  mate- 
rial strength  of  the  Empire.  The  United  States,  hav- 
ing astonished  all  Europe  by  triumphantly  crushing 
out  the  most  stupendous  rebellion  the  world  had  ever 
known,  and  after  one  of  the  most  gigantic  wars  in  his- 
tory, had  bounded  forward  to  a  position  of  the  first  rank 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  presentation  of  a  representative  of  a  first-class 
power  to  the  Emperor  was  then  a  matter  of  great  form 
and  ceremony.  There  was  a  member  of  the  court  desig- 
nated "  Maitre  des  Ceremonies,  Introducteur  des  Ambas- 
sadeurs."  At  this  time  it  was  the  Baron  Feuillet  de 
Conches,  an  amiable  old  gentleman  who  had  devoted  his 


4  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

life  to  the  collecting  of  autographs,  and  had  the  largest 
and  most  valuable  collection  in  Paris,  and  probably  in  the 
world.  On  the  day  appointed  for  the  presentation  of  my 
letters  of  credence,  he  appeared  at  my  lodgings  with  two 
large  state  carriages  ;  the  first  one  to  be  occupied  by  the 
baron  and  myself,  and  the  second  one  by  my  secretaries. 
Proceeding  to  the  Tuileries,  we  entered  and  found  the 
Emperor  and  many  members  of  his  court  awaiting  us  in 
the  Hall  of  Ceremonies.  Standing  a  little  in  front  of  the 
officials  who  surrounded  him,  I  was  formally  presented  to 
him.  I  then  made  to  him  my  presentation  speech,  and 
delivered  into  his  hands  my  letters  of  credence.  In  per- 
forming this  duty,  I  said  that  it  afforded  me  pleasure  to 
be  enabled  to  state  that  I  bore  to  His  Majesty  the  best 
wishes  of  the  President  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  himself,  Her  Majesty  and  the  Prince  Imperial, 
as  well  as  for  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  French 
people.  I  stated  that  it  was  the  desire  of  my  govern- 
ment to  maintain  and  cultivate  the  most  amicable  rela- 
tions with  the  government  of  France ;  that  I  was  most 
happy  to  assure  His  Majesty  that  there  never  had  been 
a  time  when  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  their 
government  had  more  warmly  desired  to  uphold  and 
perpetuate  the  traditional  friendship  of  the  two  coun- 
tries ;  and  that  I  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  my  duties 
with  a  hope  that,  while  properly  guarding  the  interest 
confided  to  me.  my  residence  near  His  Majesty  might 
contribute  to  a  happy  continuation  of  the  friendly  rela- 
tions then  existing.  The  reply  of  His  Majesty  was  in 
good  English,  and  in  an  off-hand  manner.  He  referred 
to  the  amicable  feeling  that  had  existed  without  interrup- 
tion between  the  two  countries  for  a  hundred  years,  and 
concurred  with  me  in  a  hope  of  its  continuation.  After  a 
pleasant  personal  remark,  the  formal  ceremony  was  over. 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  5 

A  brief  conversation  then  ensued,  in  which  the  Emperor 
said  he  was  glad  to  know  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  were  prosperous  and  happy  ;  and  spoke  in  much 
praise  of  their  energy  and  enterprise  as  particularly  illus- 
trated by  the  completion  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  which 
he  regarded  as  a  most  marvellous  work. 

After  concluding  my  interview  with  His  Majesty,  I 
was  immediately  presented  to  the  Empress,  who  was  in 
another  part  of  the  palace.  In  a  pleasant  conversation 
evincing  her  interest  in  American  matters,  and  a  great 
desire  to  visit  our  country, 
she  expressed  her  gratifica- 
tion that  I  was  to  reside  near 
His  Majesty's  court  as  the 
American  representative, 
and  hoped  that  I  might  find 
my  residence  in  Paris  a  very 
agreeable  one. 

Just  before  my  presenta- 
tion,  my  predecessor,  Gen- 
eral  Dix,  presented  his  let- 
ters  of  recall,  and  took  his 
leave  of  the  court.  It  af- 
forded me  much  pleasure  to 

1  General  John   A.    Dix. 

state,   in   a   dispatch   to    my 

government,  that  during  his  official  residence  in  France 
he  had  won  the  respect  and  esteem  of  the  French 
people  and  the  French  government,  discharging  all 
his  official  and  social  duties  in  a  manner  satisfactory 
to  his  countrymen  in  Paris  and  France.  He  left  for 
his  home  with  the  best  wishes  and  sincerest  regrets 
of  all.  But  few  American  ministers  in  France  ever 
made  a  better  impression  than  General  Dix.  Edu- 
cated at  Montreal,  he  spoke  French  with  the  fluency 


6  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

of  a  native  ;  highly  accomplished,  and  of  a  most  ele- 
vated personal  character,  he  had  held  many  of  the 
highest  places  in  the  United  States,  and  always  dis- 
charged his  duties  in  a  manner  honorable  to  himself, 
and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  people.  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  a  general  in  the  war  of  secession, 
and  often  placed  in  the  most  difficult  and  responsible 
positions,  he  had  never  failed,  in  any  instance,  to  meet 
the  public  approbation. 

My  arrival  in  Paris  was  coeval  with  an  election  for 
members  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  which,  under  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Empire,  took  place  once  in  six  years.  This 
election  commenced  on  Sunday,  the  day  of  the  presenta- 
tion of  my  letters  of  credence  to  the  Emperor,  and  con- 
tinued through  the  next  day.  There  was  a  good  deal  of 
excitement  in  Paris  up  to  the  time  when  the  public  meet- 
ings— "'reunions"  as  they  were  called — were  permitted  to 
be  held.  But  after  they  closed,  in  accordance  with  the 
provision  of  the  then  existing  law,  five  days  before  the 
commencement  of  the  election,  everything  was  remarka- 
bly quiet,  and  the  voting  was  everywhere  proceeded  with 
in  a  most  orderly  manner. 

In  Paris,  during  the  last  years  of  the  Empire,  and  prior 
to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  in  1870,  there  were  certain 
appearances  of  prosperity,  happiness  and  content ;  but 
they  were  like  the  fruit  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  to  the  last 
degree  deceptive.  Beneath  all  the  outside  show  there 
was  to  be  heard  the  deep  rumbling  of  popular  discontent. 
The  people  v/ere  dissatisfied,  restless  and  uneasy.  They 
considered  that  their  rights  and  liberties  had  been 
trampled  upon,  and  their  discontent  was  often  made 
manifest  in  Paris  by  their  turbulent  gatherings  on  the 
Boulevards,  which  had  so  often  to  be  dispersed  by  the 
police  and  squadrons  of  cavalry,  whose  clashing  sabres 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  7 

and  sounding  bugles  were  frequently  heard  in  the  streets. 
These  gatherings  were  called  "  attroupements"  Thou- 
sands of  individuals  quickly  assembling,  idlers,  laborers 
and  loafers,  sometimes  completely  blocked  up  the  way 
for  squares.  Night  after  night  large  numbers  would  be 
arrested  as  rioters  and  revolutionists,  and  locked  up  in 
the  prison  of  Mazas,  or  sent  to  the  casemates  of  Fort 
Bicetre.  I  had,  at  this  time,  a  somewhat  curious  ex- 
perience with  an  American  who  was  one  of  the  number 
"gobbled  up."  Though  the  Prefect  of  Police  had  issued 
a  proclamation  warning  all  peaceable  people  to  keep  out 
of  the  streets  and  not  to  mix  up  with  the  rioters,  yet  our 
American  friend,  his  curiosity  going  beyond  all  reasonable 
bounds,  found  himself  one  night  arrested,  and  with  about 
eight  hundred  others  taken  to  Fort  Bicetre.  where  he  was 
obliged  to  sleep  on  straw,  and  had  but  very  little  to  eat, 
and  that  of  the  worst  quality.  He  was  soon,  however, 
enabled  to  get  word  to  me  ;  and  upon  my  application  to 
the  authorities,  was  immediately  released,  and  came  to 
tell  me  a  pitiful  story  of  abuse  and  even  of  robbery. 
The  authorities  did  not  deny  that  he  had  had  a  pretty 
hard  time  ;  but  they  did  most  strenuously  deny  that  he 
had  been  robbed  by  the  police  authorities.  Though  he 
was  altogether  to  blame  for  mixing  himself  up  with  the 
crowd  of  rioters,  after  having  been  warned  of  the  conse- 
quences, he  was  very  much  dissatisfied  with  his  treatment, 
and  thought  our  government  ought  to  take  it  up  and 
"vindicate"  him.  This  was  often  the  case;  and  I 
found  that  whenever  an  American  got  into  trouble,  he 
thought  that  our  country  ought  to  go  to  war  at  once  to 
vindicate  him  and  its  power  and  authority. 

In  the  present  instance,  although  I  had  got  him 
out  of  prison  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  he  still 
seemed  to  be  dissatisfied,  because  I  did  not  make  a 


8  777^  LAST  DATS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

peremptory  demand  on  the  French  government  to  in- 
demnify him  for  what  he  claimed  to  be  his  losses,  and  for 
illegal  imprisonment.  I  did  not  view  the  matter  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  light.  He  became  dissatisfied,  and  gave 
out  that  he  would  expose  me  in  the  public  press  at  home, 
and  report  me  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  But  I  never 
heard  from  him  in  respect  to  the  matter. 

At  the  election  I  have  spoken  of  there  were  a  great  many 
circonscriptions  (districts)  where  there  was  no  choice,  and 
which  necessitated  a  second  election.  For,  if  no  candi- 
date received  an  absolute  majority  at  the  first  election, 
another  election  was  to  be  held,  where  a  plurality  elected ; 
provided,  however,  the  candidate  should  obtain  a  certain 
specified  number  of  the  total  votes  registered.  The  elec- 
tion was  somewhat  of  a  surprise  to  the  government,  for 
the  opposition  had  exhibited  an  unexpected  strength  in 
the  popular  vote  given  to  the  candidates  representing  the 
various  shades  of  opposition.  It  was  this  large  vote 
for  opposition  deputies  throughout  the  Empire  that  con- 
tributed much  to  the  state  of  feeling  in  Paris.  One  re- 
markable thing  was  the  overwhelming  opposition  vote 
in  the  great  cities  of  the  Empire.  Paris  elected  its 
whole  nine  members  belonging  to  the  opposition,  many 
of  them  extreme  Radicals  ;  while  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Bordeaux  and  Nantes  also  elected  opposition  members. 
There  were,  in  this  election,  ninety-three  opposition 
members  chosen,  as  against  none  in  1852,  five  in  1858, 
and  ten  in  1854.  Among  the  deputies  elected  were 
several  advanced  Radicals,  such  as  Bancel,  Raspail  and 
Esquiros,  men  who  had  been  revolutionists  in  1848. 
While  quiet  had  been  restored  in  Paris  after  much  ef- 
fort, it  still  turned  out  that  there  had  been  alarming 
riotous  proceedings  in  many  of  the  larger  towns.  I  re- 
fer to  these  disturbances  and  the  discontent  existing 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  9 

over  many  parts  of  France,  because  they  led  up  to  a  future 
which  will  be  referred  to  subsequently. 

A  short  time  after  I  had  presented  my  letters  of  cre- 
dence, the  Marquis  de  La  Valette  took  a  leave  of  absence, 
and  M.  Rouher  was  assigned  to  his  position,  ad  interim. 
That  was  the  first  acquaintance  I  had  with  M.  Rouher, 
who  was  then  one  of  the  great  figures  of  the  Empire.  He 
was  a  native  of  the  department  of  Puy-de-D6me,  and  an 
advocate  at  the  bar  of  his  native  village  of  Riom ;  a  sim- 
ple lawyer,  without  title  and  without  fortune,  he  made  his 
way  simply  by  the  force  of  his  talent.  And  that  is  one 
thing  to  be  observed  in  France.  Many  of  the  ablest  men 
of  the  country  are  the  architects  of  their  own  fortunes, 
and  have  made  their  way  to  distinction  and  public  favor 
by  the  force  of  their  ability  and  character,  and  without 
the  aid  of  extraneous  circumstances.  M.  Rouher  was 
of  large  frame,  and  had  a  face  and  head  which  did 
not  disclose  any  great  intellect  or  talent,  but  he  was  a 
man  of  fine  presence  and  courtly  manners.  He  had  been 
Minister  of  Commerce  and  Agriculture,  President  of  the 
Council  of  State,  and,  at  one  time,  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, and  was  often  in  the  legislative  bodies.  In  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  he  became  the  spokesman  of  the 
Emperor,  and  thus  acquired  the  title  of  Ministre  de  la 
parole;  and,  as  such,  he  defended  all  the  acts  of  the 
government.  He  was  bold,  able,  and  full  of  resource, 
and  was,  perhaps,  the  best  man  for  the  role  he  was 
assigned  to  play.  After  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  he  be- 
came one  of  the  most  unpopular  men  in  France,  and  he 
soon  left  his  country  and  went  over  to  England.  In 
London  he  founded  a  newspaper  devoted  to  the  fallen 
dynasty,  called  La  Situation.  After  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Commune,  on  the  i8th  of  March,  1871,  he  undertook 
to  return  from  London  to  Paris.  At  Boulogne  he  met  the 


10  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

news  of  the  insurrection  on  that  day.  The  people  of 
Boulogne,  informed  of  his  presence  in  the  city,  gathered 
under  his  windows  and  raised  menacing  cries.  When  he 
emerged  from  his  hotel  to  take  a  carriage,  it  was  said 
that  he  was  badly  treated,  insulted,  and  struck  with  canes. 
M.  Thiers,  who  was  then  Chief  of  Executive  Power,  or- 
dered his  arrest  and  transfer  to  Arras,  whence  he  went 
to  Belgium.  M.  Rouher  was  afterwards  elected  mem- 
ber of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  took  quite  a 
prominent  part  in  the  legislation  of  the  Chamber.  Since 
this  time  he  seems  to  have  disappeared  from  public  life. 

When  I  reached  Paris,  in  May,  1869,  I  found  some  ex- 
citement prevailing  there  in  regard  to  the  "  Transconti- 
nental, Memphis,  El  Paso  and  Pacific  Railway."  Adver- 
tisements had  appeared  in  nearly  all  the  newspapers  of 
Paris,  and  large  hand-bills  were  posted  on  the  walls  in 
many  parts  of  the  city.  The  object  was  to  introduce  these 
bonds  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Paris  public. 
They  were  put  upon  the  Paris  bourse.  I  was  advised  that 
they  had  been  sold  to  the  amount  of  some  fifteen  to  twenty 
million  of  francs.  Many  inquiries  were  made  of  me  by 
persons  who  had  invested  in  the  bonds.  But,  while  I  had 
my  own  opinion'  in  respect  to  their  value,  I  guarded  my- 
self very  strictly  against  expressing  any  positive  view 
until  I  should  have  received  correct  and  official  informa- 
tion. I  had  no  desire  to  do  any  injustice  to  the  company, 
whatever  my  private  opinions  might  be.  I  therefore 
requested  the  State  Department  to  have  the  whole  sub- 
ject investigated  at  the  Interior  Department,  and  the  re- 
sult of  such  investigation  transmitted  to  me.  Soon  after 
this,  some  of  the  Paris  journals  commenced  to  attack  the 
bonds,  particularly  La  Presse  Libre,  edited  by  A.  Male- 
spine,  who  had  lived  for  some  years  in  New  Orleans.  On 
account  of  these  attacks  he  was  sued  for  libel  by  a  certain 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  M 

M.  Probst,  who  seemed  to  have  been  in  charge  of  the 
scheme  to  palm  off  the  bonds.  It  was  alleged  that  the 
bonds  were  put  on  the  market  by  General  John  C.  Fre- 
mont, as  a  representative  of  the  "  Transcontinental, 
Memphis,  El  Paso  and  Pacific  Railway  Company."  M. 
Malespine  said  that  Probst  had  given  proof  of  "an  incon- 
ceivable audacity ; "  and  that  it  was  very  desirable  that  he 
should  not  be  allowed  to  compromise  the  good  reputation 
America  had  enjoyed.  The  hand-bills  and  advertise- 
ments set  out  with  the  statement  that  Congress  had  voted 
a  bill  authorizing  the  fusion  of  the  company  with  all  the 
railroad  companies,  which,  starting  from  the  Atlantic, 
met  at  Chattanooga  ;  that  it  had  received  great  conces- 
sions of  land,  which  it  offered  as  security ;  that  the 
United  States  government  had  guaranteed  to  the  sub- 
scribers bonds  running  fifty  years,  with  an  interest  of 
six  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  the  payment  of  the  bonds 
after  that  period  ;  that  many  of  the  bonds  were  issued 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and  that  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  was  pledged  to  interfere  in 
case  of  the  delay  of  a  single  day  in  the  payment  of  the 
interest  coupons.  As  I  declined  to  indorse  all  the  state- 
ments that  had  been  made,  I  was  roundly  abused  by  the 
parties  in  interest.  In  due  time  the  matter  was  investi- 
gated by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  his  report  was 
duly  forwarded  to  me.  This  report  of  the  Interior  De- 
partment confirmed  all  that  I  had  suspected  in  regard  to 
the  fraudulent  misrepresentations  which  had  been  made 
in  Paris.  After  receiving  it,  I  gave  notice  to  all  inter- 
ested, and  particularly  to  General  Fremont,  who  was 
then  in  the  city,  that  it  was  open  to  inspection  at  the 
United  States  Legation.  The  consequence  of  this 
disclosure  was  to  completely  discredit  the  bonds,  and  to 
embarrass  the  parties  who  had  placed  them  on  the  market. 


12  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

General  Fremont  himself  published  a  pamphlet,  in  France, 
against  me,  styling  me  the  "  modern  Franklin,"  who  was 
guilty  of  the  strange  misconduct  of  discrediting  a  great 
American  enterprise  in  the  country  to  which  he  was  ac- 
credited as  minister.  The  French  government  soon  took 
up  the  matter,  prosecuted  the  parties  engaged,  and  sen- 
tenced them  to  different  terms  of  imprisonment.  Some 
were  tried  in  contumaciam,  in  accordance  with  the  French 
law,  and  found  guilty  and  sentenced  ;  but  the  sentence 
could  only  be  carried  out  when  a  party  should  be  ar- 
rested. There  were  some  amusing  incidents  connected 
with  the  whole  matter,  but  they  are  not  of  sufficient  inter- 
est to  be  related  here.  I  might,  however,  allude  to 
one  in  regard  to  an  officer  of  the  French  army,  who 
professed  to  have  invested  eighty  thousand  francs  in 
these  bonds,  and  who  came  to  me  for  certain  information. 
He  approached  me  politely,  of  course.  He  wore  a  uni- 
form which  was  grand  enough  for  a  Marshal  of  France. 
I  soon  drew  out  of  him  enough  to  convince  me  he  was 
not  acting  in  good  faith,  and  that  his  interview  with  me 
was  a  put-up  job  between  him  and  the  promoters  of  the 
scheme.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  he  did  not 
make  very  much  out  of  me,  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
he  gave  out  that  he  might  take  "ulterior  measures,"  but 
none  were  ever  taken  to  my  knowledge. 

The  result  of  the  election  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  was  a  change  of  the  ministers 
in  the  month  of  July;  and  when  I  was  off  on  my  leave 
at  the  German  baths,  the  Marquis  de  La  Valette  the  out- 
going Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was  sent  as  Ambassa- 
dor to  London,  and  was  replaced  by  the  Prince  de  La 
Tour  d'Auvergne.  The  prince  belonged  to  one  of  the 
most  illustrious  families  of  the  old  nobility  of  France,  and 
the  name  is  often  found  in  French  history.  He  had  passed 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  i- 

o 

his  whole  life  in  the  diplomatic  service,  but  had  never 
been  a  member  of  any  of  the  political  assemblies  of  his 
country.  He  came  over  from  London,  where  he  was  the 
French  Ambassador,  to  assume  his  portfolio  as  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  He  was  born  at  Moulins,  in  1822, 
and  therefore  was  a  little  under  fifty  years  of  age,  a  man 
of  large  frame  and  fine  physique,  and  had  seen  much  of 
the  world.  His  manners  were  exceedingly  agreeable, 
not  to  say  captivating.  From  ability  and  experience,  he 
was  well  qualified  for  his  post.  Several  of  the  ministers 
in  the  new  Cabinet  were  re-appointed,  but  others  made 
their  first  entry  into  public  life.  Most  of  them,  when 
appointed  ministers,  however,  were  unknown  men,  not 
distinguished  by  ability  or  public  service.  M.  Rouher 
was  provided  for  by  being  made  President  of  the  Senate 
for  the  year  1869.  Two  other  members  of  the  Cabinet 
were  made  Senators  in  order  to  compensate  them  for 
their  loss  of  places. 

I  had  much  to  do  with  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Au- 
vergne  in  fruitless  attempts  to  negotiate  postal  and  tele- 
graph treaties.  I  was  not  successful  in  my  efforts  with 
him ;  neither  was  I  successful  with  any  of  his  successors. 
There  is  no  nation  in  the  world  more  difficult  to  make 
treaties  with  than  France.  The  questions  arising,  when- 
ever a  proposal  for  a  treaty  is  made,  are  studied  by  the 
ablest  men  in  the  country,  who  are  generally  unwilling  to 
negotiate  treaties  unless  they  can  secure  some  decided 
advantage.  It  would  be  of  no  value  to  recount  all  of  my 
futile  attempts  through  so  many  months.  Always  polite 
and  gentlemanly,  full  of  resources,  the  ministers  always 
found  objections,  but  stated  them  in  the  most  courteous 
terms.  Our  postal  treaty  with  France  had  expired  at  this 
time,  and  we  being  unable  to  negotiate  a  new  one,  the  sin- 
gular spectacle  was  presented  of  no  postal  arrangements 


14  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

between  two  countries  connected  by  so  many  business  and 
social  relations.  Mr.  Cresswell,  the  Postmaster-General 
at  Washington,  had  sent  over  Senator  Ramsay,  of  Min- 
nesota, to  negotiate  a  treaty,  but  after  many  and  able 
efforts,  he  found  it  impossible  to  succeed.  This  state  of 
things,  of  our  being  without  a  treaty  and  the  French  gov- 
ernment left  to  dictate  the  terms  on  which  postal  matter 
between  the  United  States  and  France  could  enter  or 
leave  France,  created  the  greatest  dissatisfaction  among 
the  Americans  in  Paris  and  among  the  business  pub- 
lic. The  greatest  uncertainty  was  produced,  and  the 
French  government  charged  the  most  exorbitant  rates  of 
postage.  Endeavors  were  also  made  for  a  telegraph 
treaty  between  the  two  countries,  and  every  effort  was 
tried  to  negotiate  one  which  would  inure  to  the  benefit 
of  both  nations  and  the  public.  But  the  French  govern- 
ment always  interposed  some  sine  qua  non  which  our 
government  would  never  agree  to  ;  and  no  postal  or  tele- 
graph treaty  was  made  during  my  term  of  service.  The 
Americans  got  no  relief  in  respect  to  postal  facilities 
between  the  two  countries,  until  the  adoption  of  the 
Universal  Postal  Union. 

I  should  state  that  my  action,  as  connected  with  the 
French  government,  touching  the  postal  treaty,  was  en- 
tirely unofficial.  I  was  not  named  as  a  commissioner  by 
our  country.  But  I  lent  my  offices  voluntarily  and  unof- 
ficially, in  the  hope  that  I  might  do  something  to  ac- 
complish an  end  so  much  desired.  My  connection  with 
the  matter  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  study  and  a  great  deal 
of  trouble.  It  led  to  many  interesting  interviews  with 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Minister  of 
Finance  ;  all  to  no  purpose.  The  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  always  expressed  a  sincere  desire  to  negotiate  a 
satisfactory  postal  treaty.  M.  Vandal,  who  was  at  that 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  j  5 

time  Director  of  Posts,  was  a  very  liberal-minded  offi- 
cial, thoroughly  conversant  with  the  wants  of  the  public 
service,  and  was  always  in  accord  with  me.  If  the 
matter  had  been  left  with  him  by  the  government,  a 
satisfactory  conclusion  would  soon  have  been  reached. 
But  it  was  always  the  Minister  of  Finance  that  inter- 
posed objections,  many  of  them  of  the  most  frivolous 
character  and  not  founded  in  justice  or  reason.  I  always 
thought  there  was  some  power  behind  the  throne,  utterly 
hostile  to  any  treaty,  which  continually  stuffed  the  Min- 
isters with  objections,  and  induced  them  to  insist  upon 
certain  points,  which  it  was  known  could  not  be  ac- 
ceded to. 

I  was,  however,  especially  authorized  to  negotiate  a 
telegraph  treaty.  But  after  great  efforts  and  many  dis- 
cussions, I  was  unable  to  accomplish  anything ;  and  for 
the  same  reason — that  there  was  always  some  sine  qua 
non  which  I  would  never  agree  to. 

After  my  return  from  my  leave  of  absence  in  Germany, 
I  found  Paris  very  quiet,  politically  and  socially.  The 
Empress  was  away  at  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
and  the  Emperor  soon  after  occupied  his  palace  at  Com- 
piegne,  with  a  view  to  giving  great  entertainments.  On 
the  8th  of  November,  1869,  I  was  invited  with  much 
formality,  through  the  first  Chamberlain  of  the  Imperial 
household,  by  the  order  of  His  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  to 
make  a  sejour  of  six  days  at  the  palace,  starting  on  the 
loth  inst.  The  invitation  extended  equally  to  Mrs. 
Washburne,  but  her  ill  health,  at  the  time,  compelled  her 
to  decline.  In  accordance  with  the  official  etiquette,  I 
accepted  the  invitation.  Several  other  Americans  were 
invited,  and,  taking  a  special  train  which  had  been  placed 
at  the  disposition  of  the  invited  guests,  we  arrived  at  the 
palace  on  the  loth  of  November.  All  were  received 


i6 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


with  much  cordiality  by  the  Emperor  and  the  Princess 
Mathilde,  who  did  the  honors  of  the  household  in  the 
absence  of  the  Empress.  The  Emperor  was  in  excellent 
health  and  fine  spirits,  and  mingled  almost  constantly 
with  his  guests.  Drives  and  hunting  parties  in  the  forest 
of  Compiegne  were  the  order  of  the  day.  On  one  occa- 


Palace  of  Compiegne. 

sion,  a  visit  was  made  to  the  old  chateau  of  Pierrefonds, 
some  eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  palace  of  Compiegne, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  forest. 

As  the  Emperor  spoke  English  quite  fluently,  I  had 
much  conversation  with  him,  particularly  as  to  the 
state  of  things  then  existing  in  France.  He  expressed 
his  regret  that  the  French  people  were  not  better  fitted 
for  more  liberal  institutions  and  for  the  concessions 
he  desired  to  make  to  them.  The  great  trouble  with 
the  French,  he  said,  was  that  they  always  looked  to 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE,  17 

the  government  for  everything,  instead  of  depending 
upon  themselves.  In  their  estimation,  the  ruler  was 
held  responsible  for  everything,  even  the  most  trifling 
and  most  ridiculous  matters.  He  illustrated  his  state- 
ment by  the  relation  of  an  incident,  which,  he  said,  had 
happened  to  him  at  Versailles  when  he  was  President 
of  the  Republic.  He  was  on  horseback,  when  an  old 
woman  came  up  and  stated  to  him  with  great  earnestness 
that  she  had  lost  an  umbrella,  and  she  thought  the 
government  ought  to  furnish  her  with  another.  Such  an 
incident  as  that,  he  was  quite  sure,  could  never  have 
happened  to  the  Queen  of  England  or  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States;  for,  happily,  in  both  of  those  coun- 
tries the  people  had  been  taught  to  look  to  themselves, 
instead  of  looking  to  their  government  for  everything,  as 
they  did  in  France.  He  always  spoke  kindly  of  the 
President,  and  begged  that  I  would  communicate  his 
messages  to  him.  Indeed,  there  were  warm  messages  in 
respect  to  the  President  on  every  side,  and  the  old 
Marshal  Canrobert,  the  first  soldier  of  the  Empire,  who 
was  a  guest  at  the  palace  at  that  time,  grew  warm  in  his 
eulogies  of  General  Grant,  as  a  brave  "  soldat  et  honnete 
homme" 

The  Emperor  spoke  very  freely  in  regard  to  the 
condition  of  Spanish  affairs  at  that  time,  which  were 
very  unsatisfactory ;  and  I  was  somewhat  surprised  to 
hear  him  remark  that  he  thought  Spain  could  not  hold 
Cuba,  and  that  the  result  would  be  that  she  would  sacri- 
fice all  her  soldiers  and  spend  all  her  money,  and  then 
lose  the  island  in  the  end.  He  made  many  inquiries 
about  the  Mormons,  and  seemed  very  much  interested  in 
the  state  of  things  which  existed  in  Utah,  expressing  his 
surprise  that  such  a  community  could  exist  and  hold 
together  in  any  civilized  country. 


1 8  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

I  was  at  the  palace  for  six  days.  There  were  be- 
tween sixty  and  a  hundred  invites,  and  among  them 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  France,  and 
many  ladies  of  title,  rank  and  fashion.  There  were 
two  or  three  American  ladies,  who,  without  either  title, 
rank  or  fashion,  were  quite  the  equals  of  the  French 
dames,  in  point  of  good  looks,  manners,  intelligence 
and  exquisite  toilets.  The  Master  of  Ceremonies  ar- 
ranged everything ;  the  coffee  was  served  in  one's 
room  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  dejeuner  a  la, 
fourchette  in  the  dining  room  at  eleven  o'clock,  and 
the  lunch  at  two.  The  dinner  was  served  promptly  at 
half  past  seven,  where  the  highest  style  of  the  French 
culinary  art  was  displayed.  There  was  one  thing  which 
attracted  my  attention,  which,  subsequently,  I  found  was 
the  rule  at  all  official  dinners.  The  guests  were  not 
tired  out  in  sitting  at  the  table,  and  the  dinner  never 
lasted  more  than  an  hour.  The  rule  was,  one  servant  to 
every  four  guests.  After  the  dinner  was  over,  the  guests 
retired  to  the  grand  salon  for  coffee,  ices,  etc.  A  dance 
was  soon  afterwards  arranged  in  a  large  hall  adjoining. 
The  Emperor  joined  in  the  dance  for  a  set  or  two,  the 
Prince  Imperial  dancing  in  the  same  set.  After  the  con- 
clusion of  the  dance,  at  half  past  ten,  all  the  guests 
again  entered  the  grand  salon,  where  tea  and  ices  were 
served  at  that  hour.  Then  the  Emperor  and  the  Prin- 
cess Mathilde  withdrew,  which  was  the  signal  for  the 
departure  of  all  the  guests.  I  occasionally  took  a  hand 
in  the  dance,  a  fact  which  got  into  the  French  papers.  I 
saw,  afterwards,  that  our  own  papers  had  their  fun  out  of 
the  incident,  and  represented  me  as  dancing  a  "  break- 
down" in  the  palace  of  Compiegne.  That  was  not 
exactly  true,  as  my  dancing  was  very  moderate,  and  after 
the  modern  style.  I  considered  that  my  best  dancing 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  I9 

days  were  over.  Twenty  years  before,  I  could  have 
danced  a  jig  with  any  Frenchman,  not  a  professional,  and 
without  any  fear  of  being  outdone. 

The  Prince  Imperial  was  then  a  lad  of  thirteen  years 
of  age,  a  boy  of  remarkable  beauty,  intelligence,  and 
of  fine  manners.  There  was  something  touching  in  the 
affection  and  devotion  existing  between  the  father  and 


Corps   Legislatif. 

the  child.  He  was  highly  educated,  particularly  in  the 
languages ;  and  besides  his  own  language,  he  spoke 
English,  Spanish  and  German  very  fluently.  The  week 
I  remained  at  the  palace  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  for  it 
enabled  me  to  see  court  life.  But,  though  pleasant  and 
agreeable  enough,  it  was  very  fatiguing,  and  I  was  re- 
joiced when  my  sejour  had  come  to  an  end. 

The  opening  of  the  new  Corps  Legislatif,  on  the  2gth 
of  November,  1869,  was  one  of  the  grandest  of  all  the 
stately  pageants  of  France.  The  speech  which  was  made 
by  the  Emperor  on  that  occasion  was  admirably  delivered 


20  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

by  him  and  very  well  received,  particularly  as  it  gave 
promise  of  certain  reforms  which  nearly  all  of  the  parties 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  were  necessary.  The  Diplo- 
matic Corps  was  present  in  full  numbers,  and  all  glitter- 
ing in  uniform  and  tinsel  except  myself.  Congress  had 
very  wisely  prohibited  its  diplomats  from  indulging  in  the 
nonsense  and  flummery  of  court  dress.  I  did  not  see  but 
that,  in  my  plain  suit  of  black,  I  got  along  as  well  as  any 
of  them. 

After  this  event,  on  the  2Qth  of  November,  there  was 
very  little  public  interest  up  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
On  New  Year's  day  there  were  always  certain  cere- 
monies, which  took  place  at  the  Tuileries.  Informed 
of  the  time  and  place  of  assembling  by  the  Papal 
Nuncio,  ex  officio  Doyen  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
that  body  assembled  at  the  Tuileries  at  one  o'clock,  P.M. 
The  Nuncio,  in  the  name  of  the  body,  made  the  usual 
congratulations,  and  expressed  the  wishes  of  all  for 
the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  France.  The  Em- 
peror replied  in  brief  and  happy  terms.  He  said  that  the 
presence  of  the  corps  and  the  words  that  he  had  heard 
were  a  new  proof  of  the  good  relations  which  existed  be- 
tween his  government  and  foreign  powers.  He  hoped 
that  the  coming  year  would  consolidate  the  common  un- 
derstanding in  the  interests  of  concord  and  civilization. 
These  New  Year's  visits  were  somewhat  formal.  The 
diplomats  were  arranged  in  a  row  according  to  their  time 
of  service,  the  Nuncio,  as  Doyen  ex  officio,  always  standing 
at  the  head.  The  Emperor  first  addressed  himself  to  the 
Doyen,  and  then  passed  down  the  line,  speaking  to  each 
diplomat  in  turn  ;  and  for  each  always  managed  to  have 
some  pleasant  word.  His  health  seemed  to  be  excel- 
lent, and  he  was  evidently  in  good  spirits.  It  was  said 
that  there  was  more  interest  taken  in  this  reception  than 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


21 


there  had  been  in  any  for  many  years,  and  the  crowd 
at  the  Tuileries  was  said  to  have  been  greater  and  more 
brilliant  than  for  a  long  time. 

Events,  which  I  cannot  here  fully  explain,  led  to 
another  change  of  the  ministry  on  the  second  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1870.  But  it  was  alleged  by  the  Bonapartists  that 
the  change  was  for  the  purpose  of  giving  effect  to  the 
adoption  of  the  constitutional  amendments  of  the  eighth 
of  May  previous.  It  was 
said  that  the  Emperor 
had  determined  to  form 
a  "  homogeneous  Cabi- 
net representing  faith- 
fully the  majority  of  the 
Corps  Legislatif"  To 
this  end  he  called  upon 
M.  Ollivier  to  form  .a 
new  ministry.  In  1863 
M.  Ollivier  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Chamber,  and 
was  one  of  a  group  of 
five  members  only,  which 
made  up  the  whole  op- 
position in  that  body. 
Later  still,  claiming  to 
be  a  republican,  he  was  gradually  won  over  to  the  Em- 
pire with  the  idea,  as  he  expressed  it,  of  making  a  union 
between  the  Empire  and  liberty.  In  1869  M.  Ollivier 
was  elected  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  in  the  first  circon- 
scription  of  the  Var,  with  the  open  support  of  the  govern- 
ment. He  was  born  at  Marseilles  in  1825.  His  father,  a 
man  without  fortune,  had  been  elected  to  the  "  Constitu- 
ent" as  a  republican,  in  1848,  but,  after  the  second  of 
December,  was  arrested,  persecuted,  and  finally  driven 


Emile   Ollivier. 


22  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

out  of  France.  Educated  to  the  bar,  M.  Ollivier  entered 
early  into  political  life. 

When  a  man  is  called  upon  to  form  a  ministry  by  the 
executive  power,  he  is  entitled  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
department  which  he  may  choose.  Instead  of  selecting 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  which  is  considered  the  first, 
or  that  of  Foreign  Affairs,  which  is  the  second,  he  became 
the  Minister  of  Justice  and  Public  Worship,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council. 

This  Ollivier  Ministry,  or  "the  Ministry  of  the  second 
of  January,"  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  was  composed  of 
new  men,  except  the  Minister  of  War  and  Minister  of 
Marine,  who  were  considered  as  special  ministers.  The 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in  this  new  deal,  was  Count 
Napoleon  Daru,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  and  one  of  its  vice-presidents.  His  position 
was  that  of  a  liberal  and  a  leader  of  the  "  Centre  Left." 
His  name  was  somewhat  of  an  illustrious  one,  and  was 
associated  with  the  days  of  the  First  Empire.  From  the 
time  of  the  coup  d'etat  of  the  second  of  December,  1851, 
he  had  been  conspicuous  as  its  opponent.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  vigorous  opponents  of  that  coup  d'etat.  He 
was  arrested  on  the  third  of  December,  and  underwent 
some  days  of  imprisonment  at  Vincennes.  Oscar  de  La 
Fayette,  the  grandson  of  General  La  Fayette,  who  was 
at  that  time  a  colleague  of  the  Count  Daru  in  the  Cham- 
ber, once  told  me  that  he  and  the  Count  were  arrested  at 
the  same  time,  and  that  he  underwent,  with  Daru,  some 
days  of  imprisonment  at  Vincennes,  and  that  they  both 
slept  on  the  same  bench  in  the  casemates  of  that  fortress. 
It  is  said  he  hesitated  about  going  into  the  ministry,  unless 
he  had  assurance  from  the  Emperor,  personally,  that  he 
would  be  satisfied  with  him.  Count  Daru  was  a  man 
greatly  esteemed  by  all  parties,  as  a  man  of  probity, 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  23 

honor  and  ability.  He  was  an  Orleanist,  and  a  great 
friend  to  M.  Thiers.  'He  was  a  gentleman  of  some  sixty- 
three  years  of  age,  gray  headed,  of  fine  personal  ap- 
pearance and  courteous  manners.  After  his  leaving  the 
ministry,  I  never  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Count 
Daru,  except  on  one  occasion,  which  was  at  an  official 
dinner  party.  This  new  ministry  was  very  well  received 
in  France.  Many  looked  forward  to  a  new  era  of  peace, 
prosperity,  and  the  foundation  of  a  truly  parliamentary 
government.  To  all  outward  appearances,  the  Ollivier 
Ministry  was  getting  along  satisfactorily  until  about  the 
middle  of  April,  1870,  when  a  break  occurred  by  the 
peremptory  retirement  of  M.  Daru,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  and  Buffet,  Minister  of  Finance.  People  had 
supposed  that  the  constitutional  ministry  was  in  a  fair 
way  to  surmount  all  obstacles,  and  to  assure  the  safe 
transition  from  the  personal  to  the  parliamentary  regime. 
But  a  sudden  change  came,  relating,  it  is  said,  to  the 
proposed  senatus-consultum,  or  constitutional  amendment. 
The  outgoing  members  of  the  ministry  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  1 3th  article  of  the  senatus-consultum,  which 
provided  for  an  appeal  to  the  people  directly,  by  the 
Emperor,  and  without  any  intervention  whatever  by  the 
parliamentary  bodies.  These  outgoing  members  of  the 
ministry  did  not  believe  that  the  reversion  of  that  power 
to  the  Emperor,  exclusively,  was  compatible  with  a  par- 
liamentary government.  They  did  not  believe  that  the 
Emperor  should  have  the  power  to  introduce  any  modifi- 
cation he  might  please,  into  the  constitution,  subject 
only  to  the  approval  of  the  people  consulted  by  an  ap- 
peal to  their  suffrages  in  plebiscite.  They  considered 
that  to  be  an  encroachment  upon  the  parliamentary 
regime,  to  which  they  have  given  a  pledge  by  going  into 
the  ministry.  Rather  than  do  that,  they  preferred  to 


24  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

surrender  their  portfolios.  Many  efforts  were  made  to 
retain  both  Daru  and  Buffet  in  the  ministry,  but  they 
proved  unavailing. 

After  M.  Ollivier  took  charge  of  the  department  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  I  was  necessarily  brought  into  relations 
with  him.  I  always  found  him  very  pleasant  and  agree- 
able. He  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  ability,  and  large 
experience  in  public  life.  He  had  distinguished  himself 
by  his  oratory  in  the  legislative  body.  His  manners 
were  plain  and  unostentatious,  and  he  was  thoroughly 
democratic.  He  never  wore  any  decorations,  and  always 
refrained  from  going  into  court  circles,  which  involved 
the  wearing  of  a  court  dress.  On  one  occasion,  just 
before  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  and  when  he  was  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs  ad  interim,  he  made  a  speech 
of  great  power  and  eloquence,  in  the  Senate,  which 
was  received  with  unbounded  applause.  Finishing  his 
speech,  he  immediately  left  the  Chamber  and  went  on 
foot  and  alone,  through  the  crowded  streets  to  the  For- 
eign Office.  The  Ollivier  Ministry  fell  miserably,  on  the 
tenth  of  July,  1870,  just  after  the  reception  of  the  news 
in  Paris  of  the  disasters  of  the  French  armies.  He  left 
Paris  soon  after  the  revolution  of  the  fourth  of  Septem- 
ber, going  at  first  to  Fontainebleau,  where,  fearing  for 
his  safety,  he  sought  refuge  in  Italy.  He  did  not  return 
to  Paris  until  the  first  days  of  1874,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  reception  at  the  Academic  Franchise,  of  which  he  had 
been  elected  a  member,  replacing  M.  de  Lamartine,  on 
the  seventh  of  April,  1874.  After  his  return  to  France, 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  Department  of  the  Var, 
at  his  country  seat,  where,  as  a  private  citizen,  he  has 
since  resided,  engaged  in  literary  pursuits.  M.  Ollivier 
had  become  very  unpopular  in  France,  at  the  time  of  the 
fall  of  his  ministry ;  and  what  contributed  very  much  to 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  25 

that  unpopularity,  was  a  declaration  which,  it  was  alleged, 
he  had  made  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  just  before 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He  certainly  showed  him- 
self wanting  in  statesmanship  and  caution.  When  the 
news  reached  Paris,  reporting  a  pretended  insult  to  the 
French  Ambassador  at  Ems,  which  was  immediately 
denied  by  the  Ambassador,  M.  Ollivier  jumped  before 
reaching  the  style,  and,  in  the  Chamber,  pronounced 
these  imprudent  remarks  :  "  From  this  day  commences, 


*. 


Fac  Simile  of  a   Note  from   M.   Ollivier. 


for  the  ministers,  my  colleagues  and  myself,  a  grand 
responsibility  ;  nous  Facceptons  d'un  cceur  leger"  It  is  but 
fair  to  say  that  M.  Ollivier  always  denied  that  he  had 
used  the  language  in  the  sense  attributed  to  him. 

I  had  heard  much  gabble,  both  in  the  United  States 
and  among  the  Americans  who  were  residing  in  Paris, 
about  the  beggarly  figure  which  the  United  States  cut  in 
Paris.  They  believed  that  the  government  should  keep 
up  a  princely  establishment  and  give  a  princely  salary  to 


26  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

the  minister  there.  I  never  wanted  to  see  anything  of 
the  kind.  Apropos  of  that  matter,  I  wrote  to  a  friend  as 
follows  : 

"  Matters  are  well  as  they  are.  The  salary  is  ample  for  all  practical 
purposes,  and  ought  not  to  be  increased.  If  a  man  have  a  big  fortune, 
and  wants  to  make  a  splurge  on  his  own  account,  he  can  do  so.  But  if 
with  little  fortune,  like  myself,  let  him  attend  to  the  business  with  which 
his  government  has  entrusted  him,  treat  his  compatriots  with  invariable 
courtesy  and  politeness,  protect  them  in  all  their  rights,  and  there  can 
be  no  reasonable  grounds  of  complaint." 

On  the  twelfth  of  May,  1870,  the  Diplomatic  Corps  met 
with  a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  Count  de  Stackelberg, 
the  Russian  Ambassador  at  the  court  of  France.  As  the 
diplomatic  representative  of  Russia,  I  found  him,  as  I 
did  all  Russians  of  official  position,  most  friendly  to  our 
own  country.  I  was  brought  into  pleasant  relations  with 
him,  and  always  found  him  a  frank  and  cordial  gentle- 
man, ever  manifesting  the  most  friendly  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  our  country. 

There  was  a  vote  on  the  plebiscite,  that  is,  on  the  adop- 
tion of  the  senatiis-consultum,  or  constitutional  amend- 
ments, on  the  eighth  of  May,  1870.  The  election  was  a 
very  quiet  one,  not  only  in  Paris,  but  throughout  France. 
I  was  at  Tours  on  the  day  of  the  election,  and  was  much 
interested  in  the  quiet  and  orderly  manner  in  which  it 
was  conducted.  Previously,  on  the  twenty-first  of  March, 
1870,  I  was  present  at  Tours,  at  the  High  Court,  which 
had  been  designated  to  try  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  for 
shooting  Victor  Noir.  The  jury  was  drawn  from  the 
Councils  General  of  eighty-nine  departments.  The  trial 
of  a  prince  of  the  blood  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest 
and  of  a  great  deal  of  excitement.  I  was  much  interested 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  trial  was  conducted.  It  re- 
sulted in  the  acquittal  of  the  prince. 


THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE.  27 

M.  Ollivier  remained  in  the  Foreign  Office  as  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  ad  interim,  until  about  the  middle  of 
May,  when  he  was  replaced  by  the  Duke  de  Gramont, 
French  Ambassador  to  the  court  of  Vienna.  On  the 
nineteenth  the  Duke  received  the  Diplomatic  Corps  for 
the  first  time.  Like  all  French  officials  with  whom  I  had 
met,  he  was  a  courteous  gentleman.  He  spoke  the  Eng- 
lish language  very  well.  The  Duchess,  being  an  English 
lady,  the  Duke  was  better  informed  in  respect  to  Eng- 
lish and  American  affairs  than  most  Frenchmen. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  1870,  the  French  government 
named  Prevost-Paradol  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to 
the  United  States,  replacing  M.  Berthemy  who  was  trans- 
ferred to  Brussels.  It  had  always  seemed  to  me  very 
strange  that  the  French  Ministers  to  the  United  States 
were  generally  anxious  to  get  back  to  Europe  and  take 
positions  in  the  diplomatic  service,  even  in  the  most  un- 
important countries.  And  so  it  was,  as  I  understood  it, 
that  M.  Berthemy  had  requested  to  be  transferred  to 
Brussels.  The  French  government  was  very  glad  to 
have  a  vacancy  at  Washington,  in  order  to  show  its  ap- 
preciation for  M.  Prevost-Paradol,  who  had  been  distin- 
guished as  a  journalist  and  a  Liberal,  and  particularly 
known  as  having  written  much  about  the  United  States, 
and  as  being  a  great  friend  of  our  country.  I  had  seen 
much  of  M.  Paradol  in  society  before  he  left  Paris.  I  found 
him  one  of  the  most  charming  of  gentlemen.  He  spoke 
English  perfectly,  and  was  very  agreeable  in  manner 
and  conversation,  and  in  thorough  sympathy  with  the 
United  States.  Dining  with  me  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1870, 
he  took  his  departure  the  next  day  for  Washington,  in  ex- 
cellent health  and  in  fine  spirits.  He  was  well  received 
at  Washington,  where  his  liberal  sentiments  and  admira- 
tion for  our  country  were  well  known.  Nothing  had  been 


28  THE  LAST  DAYS   OF  THE  EMPIRE, 

received  at  Paris  indicating  that  there  was  anything  wrong 
with  M.  Paradol  at  Washington.  But,  on  the  2ist  of 
July,  1870,  I  received  a  dispatch  from  the  Secretary  of 
State,  announcing  his  sudden  death,  and  stating  that  the 
President  had  directed,  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the 
French  government,  that  a  guard  of  honor  be  placed  at 
the  residence  of  the  late  minister.  I  immediately  trans- 
mitted this  information  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  accompanied  it  with  a  note,  stating  that  my  govern- 
ment would  share  with  the  government  of  His  Majesty, 
the  Emperor,  its  appreciation  for  the  loss  of  a  man  so 
distinguished  and  of  so  much  promise  as  M.  Prevost-Pa- 
radol.  This  was  the  first  news  that  had  been  received  of 
the  suicide  of  M.  Paradol,  and  it  caused  great  sorrow 
throughout  Paris,  where  he  was  so  well  known  and  so 
much  respected  and  beloved. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    DECLARATION    OF    WAR. 

Significance  of  the  Hohenzollern  Incident — King  William's  rumored  insult  to 
the  French  Ambassador — Some  Traits  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  of 
France — Americans  at  Court — The  last  grand  Dinner  at  the  Tuileries 
— War  Declared — German  Subjects  placed  under  the  Protection  of  the 
United  States  Minister — An  Important  Question  in  International  Law. 

TOWARDS  the  last  of  June,  1870,  there  arose  what 
is  known  as  the  "  Hohenzollern  incident,"  which 
assumed  so  much  importance,  as  it  led  up  to  the  Franco- 
German  War.  In  June,  1868,  Queen  Isabella  had  been 
chased  from  Spain,  and  had 
sought  refuge  in  France.  The 
Spanish  Cortes,  maintaining 
the  monarchical  form,  offered 
the  Crown  of  Spain  to  Prince 
Hohenzollern,  a  relation  of  the 
King  of  Prussia.  The  French 
Minister  at  Madrid  telegraphed 
that  Prince  Leopold  Hohenzol- 
lern had  been  nominated  to  the 
throne  of  Spain,  and  had  ac- 
cepted. This  produced  the 
utmost  excitement  and  indig- 
nation among  the  French  peo- 
ple. The  Paris  press  teemed 

with  articles  more   or  less   violent,  calling  on  the  gov- 
ernment to  prevent  this    outrage,   even   at  the  cost    of 


Prince   Leopold  of   Hohenzollern. 


30  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

war.  The  journals  of  all  shades  were  unanimous  in  the 
matter,  contending  that  it  was  an  insult  and  a  peril  to 
France,  and  could  not  be  tolerated.  The  Opposition  in 
the  Chamber  made  the  incident  an  occasion  for  attacking 
the  government,  alleging  that  it  was  owing  to  its  weak 
and  vacillating  policy  that  France  was  indebted  to  her 
fresh  humiliation.  The  government  journals,  however, 
laid  the  whole  blame  upon  the  ambition  of  Count  Bis- 
marck, who  had  become  to  them  a  bete  noire.  He  was 
charged  with  doing  everything  for  the  grandeur  of  Prus- 
sia and  the  unification  of  Germany,  all  of  which,  they 
alleged,  was  on  account  of  his  hatred  of  France.  The 
Duke  de  Gramont,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was  in- 
terpellated in  the  Chamber  on  the  subject,  and,  in  reply,  de- 
clared that  France  would  not  permit  any  foreign  power  to 
place  one  of  its  princes  upon  the  throne  of  Charles  V.,  and 
disturb,  to  the  detriment  of  France,  the  present  equili- 
brium of  Europe.  All  parties  in  the  Chamber  received 
this  declaration  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  The  Opposi- 
tion members,  who  were  largely  in  the  minority,  made  as 
much  noise  as  the  government  deputies.  Much  of  this 
was  owing  to  the  personal  feeling  against  Bismarck,  and 
both  parties  vied  with  each  other  in  showing  the  extent 
of  their  dislike  to  the  great  Prussian  Chancellor.  Much 
pressure  was  soon  brought  to  bear  in  the  proper  quarters  ; 
the  result  of  this  was  the  withdrawal  of  the  Hohenzollern 
candidacy.  Explanations  were  made,  better  counsels 
seemed  to  prevail,  and  all  immediate  trouble  appeared 
averted. 

It  seemed  quite  certain  that  all  danger  of  a  war  be- 
tween France  and  Germany  was  at  an  end,  and  all  being 
quiet  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  on  the  3d  of  July  I  left 
Paris  in  pursuit  of  health  and  recreation  at  the  healing 
waters  of  Carlsbad,  of  far-off  Bohemia.  I  was  in  excel- 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  31 

lent  relations  with  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  and  everything 
appeared  to  be  serene.  I  had  hardly  reached  Carlsbad, 
when  scanty  news  was  received  of  a  somewhat  threaten- 
ing character.  I  could  hardly  believe  that  anything  very 
serious  was  likely  to  result ;  yet  I  was  somewhat  uneasy. 
Going  to  drink  the  water  at  one  of  the  health-giving 
springs,  early  in  the  morning  of  July  I5th,  my  Alsatian 


Carlsbad, 


valet  brought  me  the  startling  news,  that  a  private  tele- 
gram, received  at  midnight,  gave  the  intelligence  that 
France  had  declared  war  against  Germany.  The  news 
fell  upon  the  thousands  of  visitors  and  the  people  of 
Carlsbad,  like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
the  most  intense  excitement  prevailed.  The  nearest 
railroad  station  to  Carlsbad,  at  that  time,  was  Eger, 


32  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

thirty  miles  distant.  The  visitors  were  then  all  depend- 
ent upon  the  diligence,  which  only  left  Carlsbad  at  night. 
I  immediately  determined  to  return  to  Paris,  as  my  post 
of  duty.  Hiring  my  seat  in  the  diligence,  I  rode  all  night 
from  Carlsbad  to  Eger.  Taking  the  railroad  from  Eger 
to  Paris,  and  passing  through  Bavaria,  Baden,  Darm- 
stadt and  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  the  excitement  was 
something  prodigious,  recalling  to  me  the  days  at  home 
of  the  firing  upon  Sumter,  in  1861.  The  troops  were 
rushing  to  the  depots  ;  the  trains  were  all  blocked,  and 
confusion  everywhere  reigned  supreme.  After  great  de- 
lays, and  much  discomfort,  and  a  journey  of  fifty-two 
hours,  I  reached  Paris  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  July  i8th. 
The  great  masses  of  people,  naturally  so  excitable  and 
turbulent,  had  been  maddened  by  the  false  news  so  skil- 
fully disseminated,  that  King  William,  at  Ems,  had  in- 
sulted the  French  nation  through  its  Ambassador.  The 
streets,  the  boulevards,  the  avenues,  were  filled  with  peo- 
ple in  the  greatest  state  of  enthusiasm  and  excitation. 
The  Champs  Elysees,  with  its  brilliant  and  flashing  gas- 
lights, and  all  the  cafes  and  open-air  concert  gardens, 
were  encumbered  by  an  immense  multitude,  who  filled 
the  air  with  cries  of  "  a  Berlin  en  huit  jours"  and  whose 
hearts  were  set  on  fire  by  the  refrain  of  the  Marseillaise, 
that  hymn  of  free  France : 

"  Allans  enfants  de  la  Patrie, 
Le  jour  de  gloire  est  arrivJ." 

It  soon  turned  out  that  all  the  reports  which  had  been 
spread  over  Paris,  that  King  William  had  insulted  the 
French  Ambassador  were  utterly  false,  and  had  not  the 
slightest  foundation.  The  French  Ambassador,  M.  Bene- 
detti,  denied  that  he  had  received  the  least  indignity 
from  the  Emperor.  The  plain  truth  seemed  to  be  that 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


33 


the  French  Ambassador  courteously  approached  the 
Emperor,  while  walking  in  the  garden  of  the  Kursaal, 
and  spoke  to  him  in  relation  to  the  pending  difficulties 
then  existing  between  the  two  countries.  The  good  old 
king  was  kind  and  polite,  as  he  always  is  to  every  one 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact,  and  when  M.  Benedetti 
commenced  talking  in1  relation  to  matters  of  such  a  grave 
character,  he  politely  stated  that  he  would  have  to  talk 
upon  such  questions  with  the  German  Foreign  Office. 
All  that  was  very  proper,  and  nobody  thought  of  it,  or 
supposed  that  there  was  any 
indignity,  as  there  was  not 
the  slightest  intended.  The 
very  spot  where  this  meet- 
ing took  place  is  now 
marked  by  a  stone  tablet, 
bearing  the  date  of  the 
incident.  The  exaggera- 
tions in  Paris  and  France 
of  this  simple  incident  sur- 
passed all  bounds,  and  they 
were  apparently  made  to  in- 
flame the  people  still  more. 
It  really  appeared  that  the 
Government  of  France  had 
determined  to  have  war  with  Germany,  coute  que 
coute.  The  alleged  causes  growing  out  of  the  talk 
that  Germany  was  to  put  a  German  prince  on  the 
throne  of  Spain  were  but  a  mere  pretext.  The  Ho- 
henzollern  candidature  had  been  withdrawn,  and  there 
was  no  necessity  or  sense  in  any  further  trouble. 
But  the  truth  was  that,  after  eighteen  years  of  peace, 
the  courtiers  and  adventurers  who  surrounded  the  Em- 
peror seemed  to  think  that  it  was  about  time  to  have 
3 


M.   Benedetti. 


34 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


a  war,  to  awaken  the  martial  spirit  of  the  French  peo- 
ple, to  plant  the  French  eagles  in  triumph  in  the 
capital  of  some  foreign  country,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
to  fix  firmly  on  the  throne  the  son  of  Napoleon  the 
Third,  and  restore  to  the  Imperial  crown  the  lustre  it 
had  lost.  It  seemed  to  be  very  clear  to  my  mind  that 
if  the  Emperor  had  been  left  to  himself,  war  would  have 
been  averted.  I  am  quite  sure  that  his  heart  was  never 
in  the  venture.  He  had  just  entered  upon  his  scheme  of 
a  parliamentary  government,  and  everything  promised  a 
substantial  success.  I  think  he  was  sincere  in  his  wish 
to  introduce  certain  real  reforms  into  his  government. 

General  Dix,  who  saw  much  of  the  Emperor  while  he 
was  minister,  once  spoke  of  him  to  me  in  the  highest 
terms,  and  said  that  he  had  always  found  him  liberal  and 
just,  and  he  believed  him  to  be  patriotic  ;  that  he  was  a 
great  deal  better  than  the  ministers  who  surrounded  him. 
But  I  will  not  undertake  to  give  here  an  estimate  of  the 
Emperor,  whose  remarkable  history  has  been  so  differ- 
ently judged.  Though  falling  from  power,  and  dying 
in  a  foreign  land,  it  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  his  mem- 
ory as  a  Bonaparte  was  held  in  reverence  and  affec- 
tion by  a  large  and  powerful  body  of  the  French  people. 
He  was  of  short  stature,  with  a  dull  face  and  heavy  man- 
ners ;  sober,  reflective,  somewhat  taciturn,  he  showed 
none  of  the  vivacity  which  is  generally  supposed  to  be  a 
part  of  the  French  character.  He  was  intelligent  and 
thoughtful,  and  a  good  judge  of  men.  He  called  about 
him  able,  sagacious,  but  sometimes  not  very  scrupulous, 
associates.  But  such  was  the  character  of  his  official  and 
personal  intercourse,  that  he  always  attached  to  his  for- 
tunes those  with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact.  But 
what  will  always  remain  as  a  stain  on  his  memory  was  his 
coup  d'etat  of  December,  1851,  which  must  go  down  in 


NAPOLEON     111. 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  35 

history  as  one  of  the  blackest  crimes  which  ever  smirched 
the  ruler  of  a  great  people.  Victor  Hugo,  in  speaking  of 
this  matter,  said  :  "  In  one  night,  liberty  was  struck  down 
by  a  hand  sworn  to  support  it ;  the  inviolability  of  the 
law,  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  the  dignity  of  the  magis- 
trate, the  honor  of  the  soldier,  all  disappeared  ;  and  there 
arose  the  despotism  of  a  personal  government,  founded 
on  the  sabre,  perjury,  murder,  and  assassination." 

My  own  personal  and  official  relations  with  the  Em- 
peror, extending  over  a  year,  were  of  the  most  pleasant 
character.  I  never  received  anything  but  kindness  at  his 
hands.  I  never  assumed  that  his  polite  conduct  had  any 
reference  to  me  personally.  The  United  States,  having 
astonished  all  Europe  by  triumphantly  crushing  out  the 
most  stupendous  rebellion  the  world  had  ever  known, 
after  one  of  the  greatest  wars  in  history,  had  assumed  the 
first  rank  among  the  leading  Powers  of  the  world.  The 
Emperor,  perhaps  reproaching  himself  for  the  hostility 
he  had  excited  in  our  country  by  his  ill-fated  Mexican  ex- 
pedition, and  desiring  to  reinstate  himself  in  the  esteem 
of  our  government,  professed  the  greatest  regard  for  our 
people,  from  whom,  he  used  to  say,  he  had  in  his  exile 
received  the  most  marked  consideration  and  kindness. 

The  Empress  was  unlike  the  Emperor.  Of  Spanish 
birth,  she  had  the  manners  and  the  grace  of  a  French 
woman  ;  about  medium  height,  with  a  graceful  form, 
regular  features,  and  beautiful  teeth,  her  black  eyes 
and  hair  revealed  the  Castilian  blood  ;  intelligent,  bright, 
fond  of  society,  with  a  kind  word  for  all,  she  captivated 
the  Court  and  the  aristocratic  society  of  Paris.  She 
must  have  the  credit  of  having  been  especially  polite  to 
our  own  country-people,  whom  she  always  greeted  with 
the  most  charming  affability  in  the  gorgeous  salons  of 
the  Tuileries.  It  was  sometimes  said  that  the  marked 


36  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

politeness  she  showed  to  our  fair  countrywomen  was  for 
the  reason  that  she  was  desirous  to  give  eclat  to  her 
balls  by  the  presence  of  our  American  ladies,  whose 
beauty,  grace  and  splendid  toilets  added  so  much  to  the 
brilliancy  of  those  magnificent  fHcs.  But  while  she  en- 
joyed this  popularity  in  official  and  Court  circles,  she  was 
much  disliked  by  the  anti-clerical  masses  of  the  French 
people.  She  was  accused  of  exercising  too  great  an  in- 
fluence over  the  Emperor  and  Court,  and  charged  with 
having  instigated  the  Mexican  Expedition,  which  cost 
France  so  much  blood  and  treasure. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  January,  1870,  that  I  made  my 
first  presentations  of  Americans  to  the  Court.  Those 
presentations  were  great  events,  particularly  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  American  colony,  which  was,  at  that  time, 
very  large.  It  had  really  become  a  feature  in  the  social 
and  official  life  of  Paris.  Many  American  families  had 
taken  up  their  residences  in  that  city.  The  colony  was 
composed  of  wealthy  and  intelligent  people  who  had 
generally  lived  in  the  cities  at  home,  and  had  seen  much 
of  society.  The  wives  and  daughters  were  remarkable 
for  their  beauty,  their  graceful  manners,  and  superb  cos- 
tumes. These  presentations  were  the  subject  of  conver- 
sation in  fashionable  American  circles  long  before  they 
took  place.  Everything  was  done  at  the  palace  to  make 
them  as  agreeable  and  attractive  as  possible.  There  was 
a  larger  number  of  fashionable  people  in  the  American 
colony  than  in  that  of  any  other  nationality.  The  cham- 
berlain of  the  palace  was  very  liberal  in  giving  out  invita- 
tions to  my  compatriots.  Indeed,  there  were  a  greater 
number  of  Americans  presented  than  of  any  other  nation- 
ality, even  the  English.  As  the  time  approached,  I  was 
advised  that  I  would  be  authorized  to  make  twenty-eight 
presentations  ;  that  being  known,  American  society  was 


'  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  37 

all  agog.  A  presentation  was  considered  to  be  the  thing, 
as  it  gave  the  person  presented  a  status  in  society  which 
could  not  be  had  without  it.  Many  Americans  desiring 
to  be  presented — a  number  greatly  in  excess  of  that  I 
was  permitted  to  present — it  became  to  me  a  matter  of 
great  embarrassment  to  discriminate  between  those  who, 
from  their  rank  and  position,  had  equal  claims. 

On  the  evening  of  the  presentation,  there  was  great 
excitement  in  the  American  colony.  The  ladies  had 
already  procured  their  magnificent  toilets,  and  the  gen- 
tlemen their  court  costumes.  The  law  having  forbidden 
me  to  wear  a  court  dress,  by  virtue  of  my  position  I  was 
not  obliged  to  put  on  any  uniform,  and  went  simply  in 
evening  dress.  Everything  was  arranged  at  the  palace 
in  the  most  gorgeous  style,  and  the  most  perfect  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  for  the  occasion.  All  the  salons 
were  beautifully  lighted  and  decorated,  and  the  echoes  of 
delightful  music  fell  upon  all  ears.  My  compatriots,  the 
ladies  in  their  superb  dresses,  and  the  gentlemen  in  court 
costume,  all  met  in  the  salon  designated  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

When  the  time  for  the  presentation  arrived,  all  entered 
the  grand  hall  of  reception  and  took  their  places  under 
the  direction  of  the  chamberlain,  in  two  long  files,  the 
gentlemen  in  one  and  the  ladies  in  the  other.  At  a 
given  hour,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  entered  this  hall 
of  reception,  and  when  the  time  came  for  the  presenta- 
tion of  my  nationaux  to  them,  I  went  down  the  line  oc- 
cupied by  the  gentlemen  and  introduced  each  one  of 
them  personally  to  "  His  Majesty."  Speaking  English 
quite  well,  the  Emperor  had  a  pleasant  word  for  them 
all.  After  the  presentation  of  the  gentlemen  to  the 
Emperor,  it  came  my  turn  to  introduce  the  ladies  to  the 
Empress.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  grace  and  cordial- 


3  8  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

ity  of  her  manner  toward  my  fair  countrywomen.  After 
accompanying  her  along  the  long  line  and  introducing 
her  specially  to  every  lady,  we  reached  the  foot  of  the 
line.  I  had  familiarized  myself  with  the  names  of  the 
large  number  of  ladies,  and  there  was  no  hesitancy  in  my 
presentations.  The  Empress  was  apparently  surprised 
at  my  success  in  calling  out  all  the  names.  She  said  to 
me,  "  How  is  it  possible,  Mr.  Washburne,  that  you  could 
remember  all  those  names  ? "  The  truth  was  that  my 
electioneering  through  nine  congressional  campaigns 
stood  me  in  good  part.  I  had  found  that  the  recollec- 
tion of  names  and  faces  is  a  cultivated  talent.  It  is  vastly 
important  that  a  candidate  should  remember  the  people 
to  whom  he  is  introduced,  and  I  had  made  it  a  point, 
always,  when  I  was  introduced  to  any  one,  to  fix  in  my 
mind  something  in  regard  to  the  person  and  manner,  so 
that  I  should  not  forget  them.  And  so  it  was,  after  fol- 
lowing this  up  for  nearly  twenty  years,  I  very  rarely  for- 
got the  name  and  the  face  of  any  person  to  whom  I  was 
introduced,  even  in  the  most  casual  manner. 

The  last  grand  dinner  given  at  the  Tuileries  was  on 
Tuesday  night,  June  7th,  1870.  It  was  in  honor  of  the 
United  States  Minister  and  Mrs.  Washburne.  It  was  a 
large  dinner,  and  was  served  in  the  usual  elegant  style 
of  all  official  dinners.  The  Emperor  appeared  in  good 
health  and  spirits,  yet  I  thought  I  saw  a  cloud  of  un- 
easiness over  his  face.  He  made  inquiries  of  me  in 
regard  to  the  postal  treaty,  and,  as  was  always  the  case 
when  I  met  him,  inquired  very  kindly  for  the  President. 
He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  he  was  going  to  send  Prevost- 
Paradol  as  Minister  to  the  United  States,  and  said  that 
while  M.  Paradol  was  a  very  "  clever  man,"  he  had  yet  to 
learn  diplomacy.  I  replied  that  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  were  then  so  pleasant  and  cordial  that  it  would 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


39 


not  require  much  skill  in  that  line.  He  answered  that 
he  believed  and  hoped  so.  I  speak  of  this  occasion,  as  it 
was  the  last  time  that  I  ever  saw  the  Emperor.  Matters 
soon  after  began  to  drift  toward  war,  and  that  state  of 
things  required  all  his  time  and  attention  until  he  finally 
left  the  gorgeous  old  palace  of  St.  Cloud  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  army,  July  28th,  1870,  never  to  return  to 
France. 

War  having  been  declared  by  France  against  Germany, 
I  found,  on  my  return  to  Paris,  July  i8th,  1870,  that  the 
German  Ambassador  to  Paris  had  applied  to  my  sec- 
retary, then  charge  d'affaires,  ad  interim,  to  have  the 
United  States  Minister  take  charge  of  the  subjects  of  the 
North  German  Confederation,  residing  in  France.  The 
government  at  Washington  was  telegraphed  to  in  relation 
to  the  matter,  and  answered  that  its  minister  would  be 
authorized  to  do  so,  provided  the  French  government 
would  assent.  That  assent  was  promptly  given  by  the 
Duke  de  Gramont.  Soon  after,  similar  requests  came 
to  me  to  take  under  my  protection  the  Saxons,  the  sub- 
jects of  Hesse  and  Saxe-Coburg  Gotha,  together  with 
the  archives  of  their  legations.  Having  first  received 
the  assent  of  the  Duke  de  Gramont  to  take  under  my 
protection  the  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confed- 
eration, the  Count  Solms,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  North 
German  Confederation,  who  still  remained  in  Paris,  sent 
to  the  United  States  legation  the  most  valuable  of  their 
archives,  upon  which  I  placed  our  seal.  I  also  took 
charge  of  the  German  embassy  in  Paris,  and  placed  over 
it  the  American  flag.  The  concierge  of  the  embassy  hav- 
ing been  forced  to  leave,  I  placed  it  under  the  charge  of 
two  young  and  trustworthy  Americans,  who  had  been  resi- 
dents of  my  own  Congressional  district,  in  Illinois.  These 
young  men  courageously  occupied  the  embassy  until  the 


4<D  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

close  of  hostilities  ;  and,  though  sometimes  threats  were 
made,  there  was  never  any  violence  offered  to  the  embassy 
or  its  guardians. 

The  day  after  my  return  to  Paris,  I  took  charge  of  my 
legation,  and  relieved  the  charge  d'affaires.  My  first  duty 
was  to  advise  my  government  of  my  return.  I  said  that 


The  German   Embassy  In  the  Rue  de  Lille. 


I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  remain  at  my  post  and  gather  all 
possible  information  to  be  transmitted  promptly  to  Wash- 
ington for  the  guidance  of  our  government  in  the  face  of 
the  events  then  existing.  I  stated  that  I  should  not  as- 
sume the  rdlc  of  a  partisan,  but  should  endeavor  to  give 
the  facts,  and  comment  thereon  without  prejudice  or  bias. 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  41 

When  I  was  writing  my  dispatch  to  the  government, 
Count  Solms,  the  charge  d'affaires  of  the  North  German 
Confederation,  came  into  my  legation  to  say  that  the 
notice  of  the  declaration  of  war  had  been  received  at 
Berlin,  and  he  had  been  directed  to  leave  Paris  immedi- 
ately, with  the  entire  personnel  of  the  embassy.  It  was 
on  the  next  day  that  the  German  archives  were  sent  to 
my  legation. 

At  the  time  of  my  arrival  at  Paris  from  Carlsbad,  it 
was  not  fully  known  what  was  to  be  the  exact  status  of 
the  South  German  states.  Saxony  had  already  taken 
its  position,  and  its  diplomatic  representative  at  the 
French  Court  had  already  left  Paris.  The  charge  d'af- 
faires came  to  me  on  the  afternoon  following  the  even- 
ing of  my  return  to  Paris,  to  say  that  he  was  requested 
by  his  sovereign  to  ask  the  protection  of  the  United 
States  legation  for  the  subjects  of  Saxony  and  for  the 
archives  of  that  legation,  the  same  as  had  been  accorded 
to  the  North  German  Confederation.  I  told  him  to 
make  his  request  in  writing,  and  I  would  apply  for  the 
assent  of  the  French  government ;  and,  if  accorded,  I 
felt  certain  that  I  should  be  carrying  out  the  wishes  of 
my  government  to  extend  its  protection  to  the  subjects 
of  Saxony,  as  well  as  to  the  archives  of  the  Saxon  lega- 
tion. On  the  iQth  of  July  he  turned  over  to  our 
legation  the  archives  of  his  embassy.  He  expressed 
himself  to  me  as  much  gratified  with  the  courtesy 
which  I  had  extended  to  him  in  receiving  the  archives 
and  in  assuming  the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  his 
sovereign. 

Having  taken  the  direction  of  German  affairs  in  Paris, 
within  the  understood  limit,  on  the  226.  of  July  I  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  the  State  Department  at 
Washington  : 


42  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  July  22,  1870.     (Received  August  3). 

Count  Solms,  chargt  d'affaires  of  the  North  German  Confederation, 
left  here  for  Berlin  on  Wednesday  night,  after  turning  over  to  this  lega- 
tion the  archives  of  the  embassy  to  which  he  belonged.  He  expressed 
himself  as  much  gratified  with  the  courtesy  which  we  have  extended  to 
him  in  receiving  the  archives  of  his  embassy,  and  in  assuming  the  pro- 
tection of  the  subjects  of  the  sovereign  whom  he  represented. 

Many  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederacy  found  themselves 
here  upon  the  formal  declaration  of  war,  and  the  Count  left  with  me 
sufficient  funds  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  certain  number  of  them,  who 
would  be  directed  to  call  at  this  legation  to  obtain  the  proper  authoriza- 
tion to  leave  the  French  territory.  Accordingly  many  have  presented 
themselves  during  the  past  three  days  to  receive  some  proper  instru- 
ment that  will  enable  them  to  go  out  of  France.  I  was  unwilling  to 
give  any  paper  or  certificate,  in  the  nature  of  a  visa,  unless  I  was  satis- 
fied it  would  be  respected  by  the  French  military  and  civil  authorities. 
I  therefore  went  to  the  foreign  office  yesterday  to  state  the  case  and  to 
ascertain  whether  these  North  German  subjects  would  be  permitted  to 
leave,  and,  if  so,  upon  what  kind  of  a  protection,  to  be  issued  by  me.  I 
was  there  advised  that  it  was  a  somewhat  serious  question,  and  that  it 
would  be  best  for  me  to  state  my  object  in  writing.  I  then  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  inclosed, 
marked  A.  I  was  promised  an  answer  to  this  letter  before  this  time  ; 
but  now,  at  five  o'clock  P.M.,  it  has  not  corne,  and  will  not  in  season  to 
send  you  a  translation  of  it  by  the  dispatch-bag  which  leaves  to-night 
and  goes  by  the  way  of  England. 

Yours,  &c.,  E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

Being  somewhat  at  loss  in  respect  to  my  position  as 
protector  of  the  Germans,  and  as  to  how  far  the  French 
government  would  sustain  me  in  carrying  out  my  views 
of  duty  in  the  premises,  I  addressed  the  following  official 
communication,  on  July  2ist,  to  the  French  Minister  of 
Forc-ign  Affairs. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  July  21,  1870. 

Referring  to  the  letter  of  Colonel  Hoffman,  of  the  i;th  instant,  to 
Your  Excellency  in  relation  to  putting  the  subjects  of  the  North  German 
Confederation  residing  in  French  territory  under  the  protection  of  this 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  43 

legation,  and  the  response  of  Your  Excellency  of  the  following  day,  giv- 
ing the  entire  consent  of  the  French  Government  thereto,  I  have  the 
honor  to  state  that  quite  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  the  North  German 
Confederation,  finding  themselves  in  Paris  at  the  time  of  the  declaration 
of  war,  have  applied  to  me  for  such  protection  as  will  enable  them  to 
leave  the  French  territory.  I  have,  therefore,  now  to  apply  to  Your  Ex- 
cellency to  know  whether  any  certificate  in  the  nature  of  a  visa,  given 
by  me  to  these  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation,  will  be  so 
far  respected  as  to  enable  them  to  pass  into  the  neutral  territory  of  Bel- 
gium. I  have  to  state  that  there  will  be  no  more  than  one  hundred  of 
these  persons,  and  they  are  mostly  poor  men  who  have  been  necessarily 
detained  here  by  reasons  over  which  they  had  no  control,  and  who  are 
extremely  desirous  of  leaving  France. 

In  this  connection  I  beg  leave  to  observe  that  I  only  desire  to  con- 
form to  what  is  due  to  the  function  which  I  have  undertaken  in  this 
respect,  with  the  assent  of  the  government  of  His  Majesty  the  Empe- 
ror. While,  perhaps,  under  a  strict  construction  of  public  law,  the 
government  of  His  Majesty  would  have  the  absolute  right  to  treat  as 
enemies  of  war  all  of  the  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation 
finding  themselves  in  France  after  the  i9th  instant,  yet  under  the  mod- 
ern and  more  humane  interpretation  given  to  that  right,  the  government 
of  His  Majesty  might  deem  it  consistent  with  its  views  to  permit  these 
men  to  leave  the  territory  of  France  within  the  reasonable  time  which 
the  text- writers  observe  has  become  the  usual  concession  of  nations  en- 
gaged in  war. 

I  will  thank  you  to  advise  me  upon  this  subject  at  the  earliest  con- 
venient moment,  so  that  I  can  inform  these  men  in  regard  to  their  ap- 
plication. If  permission  be  granted,  I  beg  to  request  that  I  may  be 
informed  of  the  nature  of  the  certificate  to  be  given  by  me,  which  will 
be  respected  by  the  military  and  civil  authorities  of  His'  Majesty's 
government.  .  .  .  .,"- 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

His  Excellency  the  DUKE  DE  GRAMONT,  etc.,  etc. 

I  saw  at  once  that  my  position  was  a  very  difficult,  as 
well  as  responsible  and  embarrassing  one.  I  could  not  find 
that  there  had  ever  been  a  case  of  the  kind  where  so  many 
interests,  and  where  so  many  people  had  been  concerned. 
No  particular  rule  had  ever  been  laid  down  under  such 
circumstances.  I  was  obliged  to  grope  in  the  dark,  fear- 


,4  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

ing  that  if  I  avoided  Scylla,  I  might  be  wrecked  on  Cha- 
ry bdis.  On  the  23d  day  of  July,  1870,  I  received  the 
following  official  communication  from  the  Duke  de  Gra- 
mont,  in  answer  to  my  letter  of  the  2ist : 

PARIS,  July  23,  1870. 

MR.  MINISTKR  :  You  have  done  me  the  honor  to  inform  me  that  a 
largo  number  of  persons  belonging  to  the  North  German  Confederation 
have  asked  your  good  offices  to  enable  them  to  return  to  their  country, 
passing  through  Belgian  territory,  and  you  are  good  enough  to  ask  me 
at  the  same  time  if  the  passports  given  or  signed  by  you  would  consti- 
tute sufficient  evidence  to  assure  security  in  the  journey  to  these  per- 
sons. 

As  you  have  seen,  Mr.  Minister,  by  the  notice  inserted  in  the  Jour- 
nal Officiel  of  the  2oth  of  this  month,  the  government  of  the  Emperor 
has  decided  that  German  citizens  will  be  at  liberty  to  continue  their 
residence  in  France,  and  that  they  will  enjoy  the  protection  of  our  laws 
as  before  the  war,  as  long  as  their  conduct  does  not  give  any  legitimate 
cause  of  complaint.  Nothing  is  altered  in  the  design  of  His  Majesty  in 
this  regard. 

In  regard  to  that  which  now  concerns  the  North  Germans  who  desire  to 
leave  the  territory  of  the  empire  in  order  to  return  into  their  own  country, 
the  government  of  the  Emperor  is  disposed  to  accede  to  the  desires  of 
those  individuals  who  are  past  the  age  of  active  military  service,  reserving 
the  right  to  examine  each  particular  case  as  it  is  presented.  Regarding 
the  national  confederates  who  do  not  find  themselves  in  this  situation, 
and  who  would  like  to  leave  France  to  respond  to  the  summons  of  their 
government  which  calls  them  lawfully  to  return  to  bear  arms  against 
us,  the  government  of  the  Emperor  will  not  allow  their  departure.  In 
adopting  this  line  of  conduct  we  have  the  desire  to  reconcile,  in  an 
equitable  degree,  the  considerations  due  to  respectable  private  interests 
with  the  legitimate  exigencies  of  a  state  of  war.  You  will  please  to  ob- 
serve, sir,  that  the  confederate  Prussians,  whose  departure  from  our  ter- 
ritory we  prevent  for  the  moment,  can  with  difficulty  invoke  in  their 
favor  the  general  principles  of  the  law  of  nations,  or  the  doctrine  of  the 
text-writers  on  this  subject.  In  fact,  the  German  subjects,  whom  the 
decision,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  of,  concerns,  cannot 
legally  be  considered  as  simply  private  individuals,  nor  be  assimilated 
to  merchants  ;  they  are  incontestably  persons  bound  to  military  service 
as  soldiers  of  the  active  army  or  of  the  landwehr.  Now  no  rule  of  inter- 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


45 


national  law  obliges  a  belligerent  to  allow  to  depart  from  his  territory 
subjects  of  the  enemy,  who,  from  the  day  of  their  return  to  their  own 
country,  will  be  enrolled  in  the  ranks  to  take  part  in  the  hostilities.  I 
will  add,  in  conclusion,  that  except  the  obstacle  put  in  the  way  of  their 
departure  from  France,  the  German  citizens  in  question  will  enjoy  the 
most  complete  liberty  to  attend  to  their  business,  to  carry  on  their  com- 
merce, their  industries,  or  their  professions  ;  in  other  words,  they  will 
be  precisely  on  the  same  footing  as  those  of  their  compatriots  mentioned 
in  the  official  note  of  the  2oth  of  this  month. 

Accept  the  assurances  of  the  high  consideration  with  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant. 

GRAMONT. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE, 

Minister  of  the  United  States. 

I  considered  that  the  French  government,  in  acting  on 
the  principles  laid  down  by  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  had 
violated  all  the  well-established  principles  of  public  law, 
as  they  were  understood  and  acted  upon  in  our  country, 
and  I  could  not  give  them  even  an  implied  assent.  I 
therefore  lost  no  time  in  addressing  the  following  official 
communication  to  him,  in  reply  to  his  despatch  of  July 
23d: 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  July  25,  1870. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  Your  Excellen- 
cy's communication  of  the  23d,  in  reply  to  mine  of  the  2ist,  asking 
information  in  behalf  of  North  German  confederate  subjects  desiring  to 
quit  French  territory. 

Your  Excellency's  communication  seems  to  assume  the  probability 
that  more  or  less  of  these  applicants  are  desirous  of  quitting  France  to 
answer  to  the  summons  of  their  own  government  to  bear  arms  against 
France,  under  the  provisions  of  the  laws  of  the  North  German  Confed- 
eration. Without  undertaking  to  contest  the  exactness  of  this  assump- 
tion, or  without  undertaking  to  inform  Your  Excellency  whether  any  or 
what  portion  of  these  applicants  are  to  be  found  outside  of  the  present 
limits  of  liability  to  bear  arms  in  the  ranks  of  the  Confederation  in  case 
of  their  return  to  North  Germany,  matters  upon  which  I  have  not  par- 
ticularly informed  myself,  you  will  allow  me  to  remark,  in  loyal  fulfil- 


46  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

ment  of  the  function  that  has  been  confided  to  me  in  this  regard,  that  I 
was  not  prepared  to  learn  that  the  exception  now  proposed  to  be  made 
by  the  government  of  His  Majesty  to  the  disadvantage  of  a  portion,  per- 
haps the  largest  portion,  of  the  applicants  would  be  insisted  on,  viz., 
that  a  liability  to  perform  military  service  in  the  home  army  constitutes 
a  sufficient  reason  for  the  refusal  of  the  ordinary  privilege  of  quitting 
foreign  belligerent  territory,  on  the  outbreak  of  a  war  between  that 
foreign  government  and  the  home  nation.  If  the  exception  stated  by 
Your  Excellency  is  to  constitute  a  settled  principle  of  international  com- 
ity— for  I  at  once  concede  that  there  is  no  question  of  absolute  right,  but 
only  of  comity  or  social  civilization  involved  in  the  decision  in  the  case 
of  these  applicants — then  I  beg  leave  to  suggest  that  the  exception  be- 
comes the  rule,  and  that  the  privilege  of  returning  to  one's  own  country 
at  the  outbreak  of  a  war  becomes  a  mere  nullity  ;  since,  of  what  male 
subject,  of  whatever  age  or  of  whatever  condition  of  life,  may  it  not  be 
affirmed  that  at  some  time  or  under  some  circumstances  he  may  be 
compelled  to  join  the  ranks  of  his  country's  armies  in  her  defence ;  say 
in  some  sudden  or  extreme  emergency  ?  And  is  a  distinction  to  be 
made  between  those  countries  which  limit  the  conscription  of  their  sol- 
diers to  a  very  restricted  section  of  their  population  and  those  govern- 
ments which,  like  Prussia,  the  United  States,  and  perhaps  Switzerland, 
bring  much  the  larger  proportion  of  their  citizens  under  the  reach  of  the 
law  of  military  service  ?  Will  Your  Excellency  allow  me  respectfully  to 
suggest  that,  in  the  limited  examination  which  I  have  been  able  to  give 
to  this  subject,  I  find  the  line  of  exception  now  suggested  to  His  Majes- 
ty's government  to  the  general  concessions  usually  made  in  favor  of 
foreign  subjects  wishing  to  quit  belligerent  territory  an  entirely  new  one. 
Even  in  feudal  times,  when  the  liability  to  do  military  duty  to  the  sove- 
reign lord  or  king  was  held  in  much  greater  strictness  than  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  I  do  not  find  that  the  point  was  insisted  upon  of  the  returning 
liege  being  liable  to  become  a  hostile  soldier.  Certainly,  under  my  own 
government,  from  which  perhaps  I  borrow  my  prepossessions,  the  idea 
of  any  such  distinction  seems  to  have  been  long  since  discarded.  For 
as  early  as  1798,  and  when  hostilities  between  the  United  States  and 
France  seemed  imminent,  probable  I  may  say,  in  reference  to  the  de- 
parture of  French  subjects  from  United  States  territory,  my  own  gov- 
ernment, by  formal  statute,  declared  that  subjects  of  the  hostile  nation, 
who  might  wish  to  quit  the  United  States  on  the  outbreak  of  future  hos- 
tilities, should  be  allowed  "  such  reasonable  time  as  may  be  consistent 
with  the  public  safety,  and  according  to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and 
national  hospitality,"  and  "  for  the  recovery,  disposal,  and  removal  of 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


47 


their  goods  and  effects,  and  for  their  departure."  (Laws  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  I.,  p.  577.)  Thus  Your  Excellency  will  observe  that  the 
privilege  is  granted  in  the  most  unrestricted  terms,  without  allusion  to  a 
liability  to  render  military  aid  to  an  enemy.  I  need  not  add  that  the 
same  principle  is  incorporated  into  various  subsisting  treaties  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  highest  American  authority  on  public  law, 
Chancellor  Kent,  considers  the  principle  to  have  become  an  established 
formula  of  modern  public  law.  This  learned  publicist,  I  may  perhaps 
be  permitted  to  add,  quotes  various  continental  publicists,  including 
Emerigon  and  Vattel,  as  upholding  and  ratifying  the  same  doctrine. 
(Kent's  Commentaries,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  56-59.) 

I  trust  that  these  suggestions  of  a  liberal  construction  of  the  rights  of 
departing  belligerents  will  not  be  deemed  inappropriate  or  untimely  on 
my  part,  since  Your  Excellency  does  not  apprise  me  that  any  public  no- 
tice of  the  qualified  restraints  foreshadowed  in  your  communication 
has  yet  been  definitely  made  public  ;  and  since  from  that  liberal  con- 
cession in  favor  of  belligerent  residents  who  do  not  choose  to  depart, 
which  His  Majesty's  government  has  published,  and  to  which  Your  Ex- 
cellency has  alluded,  I  deduce  an  anxious  desire  on  the  part  of  that 
government  to  conform  as  much  as  possible  to  the  mildest  interpreta- 
tion of  the  hardships  of  the  laws  of  war. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  say  that  if  His  Majesty's  government  has 
definitely  decided  the  question  of  the  privilege  of  departing  subjects  of 
the  North  German  Confederation  in  the  limited  sense  which  Your  Ex- 
cellency's communication  seems  to  imply,  it  would  relieve  me  of  trouble 
in  the  way  of  answering  personal  applications,  if  the  French  Government 
should  deem  it  proper  to  make  a  public  announcement  of  its  determina- 
tion upon  that  point,  or  to  advise  me  by  a  personal  communication.  I 
should  also  be  glad  to  be  informed  if  my  own  intervention  or  agency 
can  be  of  any  avail  in  enabling  His  Majesty's  officials  to  judge  of  the 
fitness  of  granting  the  departure  of  those  particular  applicants  who  may 
happen  to  be  without  the  limits  of  the  age  of  military  service  in  the 
North  German  Confederation  Army,  and  as  to  which  you  intimate  that 
the  French  government  reserves  to  itself  the  right  of  judging  each  case 
as  it  shall  arise. 

I  take  the  present  occasion,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

I  was  fortunate  at  this  time,  in  having  the  advice  and 
assistance,  in  this  matter,  of  George  Bemis,  Esq.,  an  old 


4g  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

friend  and  classmate  at  the  Harvard  Law  School  and  a 
lawyer  of  great  ability.  As  a  publicist  and  writer  on  In- 
ternational Law,  he  had  few  superiors  in  any  country. 
Although  he  is  dead,  I  am  glad  to  pay  this  tribute  to  his 
memory. 

The  following  is  the  further  correspondence  on  this 
subject : 

The  Duke  de  G'ramont  to  Mr.  Washburne. 

PARIS,  August  3,  1870. 

SIR  :  I  desired  to  answer  sooner  the  letter  which  you  did  me  honor 
to  address  me  the  25th  ultimo,  concerning  the  subjects  of  the  North 
German  Confederation  recalled  to  their  country.  The  necessity  of 
consulting  with  my  colleague,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  whose  prov- 
ince it  is  to  organize  the  numerous  details  that  relate  in  time  of  war  to 
the  residence  of  foreigners  in  France,  and  especially  to  that  of  the  sub- 
jects of  the  enemy's  nation,  has  been  the  only  cause  of  this  delay. 

I  am  to-day  able  to  make  known  to  you  the  measures  taken  to  assure 
the  execution  of  the  resolutions  of  the  government,  of  which  I  notified 
you  the  23d  of  July  ;  but  first  permit  me  to  examine  briefly  the  obser- 
vations so  courteously  presented  in  your  letter  cited  above,  on  the  line 
of  conduct  that  the  government  of  the  Emperor  has  seen  fit  to  adopt 
under  existing  circumstances,  in  relation  to  a  certain  class  of  German 
subjects  resident  in  our  territory  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  sift  to  the  bottom  the  rights  of  belligerents 
toward  the  enemy's  subjects.  The  principle  itself,  in  virtue  of  which 
the  government  of  the  Emperor  has  acted,  is  not  to  the  point.  You  have 
been  pleased  to  recognize  this  ;  but,  though  admitting  that  in  strict 
point  of  view  our  right  is  not  contestable,  it  would  seem  to  result  from 
your  remarks  that  the  application  that  we  had  made  of  it  partakes  of 
those  extreme  consequences  of  the  right  of  war  which  modern  ideas  and 
the  progress  of  civilization  disavow. 

U  e  attach  too  much  importance  to  the  preservation  of  the  sympathy 
of  the  great  republic  which  you  represent  not  to  try  to  correct  your 
first  impression  in  demonstrating  that  nothing  in  the  measures  adopted 
by  the  government  of  the  Emperor  is  of  a  nature  to  make  us  incur  the 
responsibility  of  a  disregard  of  the  laws  of  war,  as  they  are  recognized 
in  our  days. 

In  ancient  law,  as  well  as  in  ancient  custom,  the  subjects  of  the  enemy 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


49 


residing  in  the  territory  were  considered  as  prisoners  upon  whom  could 
be  visited  all  the  consequences  of  war. 

According  to  the  modern  theory,  the  modification  of  this  state  of 
things  consists  not  in  conceding  to  the  subjects  of  the  enemy  an  abso- 
lute right  to  leave  the  territory  of  the  belligerent,  but  to  impose  upon 
the  latter  the  duty  of  not  maltreating  them  if  it  permits  them  to  remain 
within  its  territory,  and  if  they  conduct  themselves  peacefully,  or  in 
case  the  government  does  not  wish  to  keep  them,  to  accord  them  a 
reasonable  delay  for  leaving  the  country.  You  refer  on  this  point  to 
the  fact  that  in  1798,  that  is  to  say  at  a  moment  when  hostilities  appeared 
imminent  between  France  and  the  United  States,  it  was  ordered  that 
the  subjects  of  the  enemy  who  desired  to  leave  the  United  States  were 
at  liberty  to  do  so.  This  objection  has  nothing  in  itself  decisive,  be- 
cause what  one  law  has  done  under  certain  circumstances,  another  law 
can  modify,  if  there  is  occasion. 

As  to  the  passage  from  the  celebrated  juris-consult,  quoted  in  your 
letter,  I  will  first  observe  that  Kent,  according  to  the  summary  of  his 
views,  belongs  very  much  more  to  the  class  of  partisans  of  the  rigorous 
doctrine  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  remind  you  that  he  is  in  opposition  to  the 
greater  part  of  modern  writers,  who  maintain  that  war  constitutes  a  re- 
lation between  the  respective  states  alone.  Kent  differs  from  this  prin- 
ciple, in  holding  that  war  is  also  a  relation  between  individuals,  and 
that  war  once  declared,  the  subjects  of  one  government  immediately 
become  enemies  of  all  the  subjects  of  the  others. 

It  can  also  be  said  that  in  the  passage  reproduced,  Kent  confines  him- 
self to  mentioning  the  opinion  of  Vattel  without  giving  his  own,  and  in 
calling  attention  in  the  following  paragraphs  to  the  fact  that  the  juris- 
prudence of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  definitively 
pronounced  itself  formally  in  favor  of  the  most  rigorous  doctrine. 
(Vol.  I.,  sec.  59.) 

The  most  accredited  German  authors  limit  themselves  to  demand,  as 
an  extreme  favor  of  the  belligerents,  that  they  accord  to  the  unsuspected 
and  peaceful  subjects  of  the  enemy  authorization  to  continue  to  reside  on 
the  territory.  It  is  thus  that  Hefter,  professor  of  the  University  of  Ber- 
lin, after  having  expressed  this  idea,  that  the  subjects  of  the  enemy 
should  obtain  a  suitable  delay  for  leaving  the  territory,  adds  :  "  Circum- 
stances, nevertheless,  may  render  necessary  their  provisional  sequestra- 
tion in  order  to  prevent  their  making  communications  and  carrying 
news  or  arms  to  the  enemy."  (Le  Droit  International,  pp.  226,  240.) 

Has  the  government  of  the  Emperor  done  anything  but  apply  this 
doctrine  in  the  most  moderate  manner  ?  Has  it  gone  beyond  what  the 
4 


r0  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

laws  of  legitimate  defence  allow  ?  I  do  not  think  so  ;  and  I  am  per- 
suaded, sir,  that  you  will  share  my  opinion  if  you  will  be  pleased  to  ex- 
amine in  regard  to  whom  and  in  what  cases  the  measures  in  question 
have  been  taken.  First,  it  has  been  decided  in  principle  that  all  Prus- 
sian subjects  whatever  residing  in  our  territory  will  be  permitted  to  re- 
main there,  and  there  enjoy  the  protection  that  our  laws  grant  to  all 
foreigners  who  respect  and  submit  to  them.  We  had  no  intention  of 
adopting  any  other  measures  as  regards  the  subjects  of  the  enemy,  when 
an  incident,  the  gravity  of  which  could  not  be  mistaken,  and  to  which 
we  could  not  be  blind  without  being  wanting  in  our  first  duties  toward 
the  country  of  which  the  defence  is  confided  to  us,  occurred  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  the  Minister  of  War.  Hardly  had  war  been  declared 
when  we  saw  Prussian  subjects,  whose  age  called  them  to  serve  in  the 
enemy's  army,  gather  openly  at  the  railway  station,  and  there,  obedient 
to  a  word  of  command,  as  if  there  had  been  a  sort  of  recruitment  prac- 
tised, prepare  to  cross  the  frontier. 

It  was  then  that  the  government  of  the  Emperor  had  to  ask  itself 
whether  the  favors  that  are  consistent  with  a  state  of  war  could  go  so 
far  as  to  allow  our  enemies  freely  to  augment  their  military  forces  at 
the  moment  when  the  struggle  was  about  to  commence,  and  if  there 
was  no  means  of  distinguishing  between  inoffensive  persons  and  those 
whom  we  were  liable  to  meet  a  few  days  later  in  the  ranks  of  the  com- 
batants. 

This  distinction  has  been  made  as  it  should  be,  and  we  have  besides 
the  consciousness  of  having  acted  within  the  limit  of  our  legitimate 
rights  in  that  which  concerns  those  even  to  whom  the  prohibition  of 
exit  applies.  Nothing  is  changed  from  our  previous  resolution  under 
the  head  of  the  security  which  is  accorded  to  them  if  their  conduct 
does  not  furnish  motives,  based  upon  complaints,  and  without  o.ur  hav- 
ing so  far  the  idea  of  using  against  them  the  odious  treatment  inflicted 
upon  the  French  recently  expelled  from  Baden  territory. 

To  recapitulate,  the  following  measures  have  been  adopted  regarding 
German  subjects  : 

ist.  The  authorization  to  leave  France  will  only  be  accorded  individ- 
ually to  those  over  forty  years  of  age. 

2d.  To  those  above  that  age  there  will  be  delivered  by  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  a  safe-conduct,  which  will  be  retained  on  the  frontier 
by  the  agent  in  charge  of  the  surveillance. 

3d.  The  safe-conduct  being  retained  on  the  frontier,  will  not  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  visa  of  [the  Members]  Foreign  Affairs.  It  is  independent 
of  the  passports  which  the  legation  or  the  consulates  of  the  United 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR.  5l 

States  may  think  proper  to  deliver  to  those  interested,  and  those  pass- 
ports will  not  be  subjected  to  the  visa  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior 
nor  of  that  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

4th.  In  case  a  German  subject  should  wish  to  enter  or  return  to 
France,  the  request  should  be  addressed  direct  to  the  Ministry  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  or  by  the  intermediary  of  the  diplomatic  agents. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  the  high  consideration  with  which  I  have  the 
honor  of  being,  sir,  your  very  humble  and  very  obedient  servant, 

GRAMONT. 


Mr.  Washburne  to  the  Duke  de  Gramont. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  August  9,  1870. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communi- 
cation of  the  3d  instant,  in  which  you  inform  me  of  the  decision  of  His 
Majesty's  government  respecting  the  granting  permission  to  the  subjects 
of  the  North  German  Confederation  to  quit  France. 

As  Your  Excellency  apprises  me  of  the  decision  as  a  definite  one,  it 
does  not  become  me  to  discuss  it  any  longer  as  an  open  question  ;  but 
inasmuch  as  certain  observations  of  Your  Excellency  in  regard  to  the 
action  of  the  American  Government  under  similar  circumstances,  and  to 
the  opinion  of  one  of  its  leading  publicists  upon  the  points  involved  in 
discussion,  seem  to  invite,  if  not  to  require,  some  further  notice  on  my 
part,  I  beg  leave  very  briefly  to  say  a  few  words  in  reply  to  those  obser- 
vations. I  do  so  chiefly  because  I  feel  confident  that  my  government 
will  take  deep  interest  in  the  decision  of  the  question  now  raised  in  this 
discussion,  and  because  I  am  sure  that  it  will  be  very  desirous  that  its 
true  position  in  regard  to  it  should  not  be  misunderstood. 

Your  Excellency  remarks,  in  reference  to  the  statute  of  the  United 
States  of  the  6th  of  July,  1798,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  cite  in  order 
to  show  its  settled  practice  and  policy  on  this  head,  that  the  argument 
to  be  derived  from  it  has  "  nothing  decisive  in  it,  because  what  one  stat- 
ute has  ordained  under  certain  circumstances,  another  statute  can 
modify,  if  there  is  occasion  so  to  do."  In  reply  to  this  suggestion,  per- 
mit me  to  call  Your  Excellency's  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  law  in 
question  has  now  stood  on  the  statute-book  of  the  United  States  for 
more  than  seventy  years;  that  it  has  remained  untouched  and  unchanged 
in  the  particular  in  question  during  the  only  foreign  wars  which  the 
United  States  has  had  during  that  time,  viz.,  with  Great  Britain  in  1812, 


s,  THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 

and  with  Mexico  in  1847;  and  that  if  the  United  States  was  justly 
committed  to  that  policy  in  1798,  when  it  had  only  a  population  of 
3,000,000,  mostly  indigenous  to  the  soil,  it  is  now  infinitely  more 
pledged  to  it,  when  out  of  its  population  of  35,000,000  to  40,000,000  so 
large  a  proportion  of  her  citizens  are  of  recent  emigration,  and  when 
American  citizens  are  to  be  found  outside  of  her  limits  in  vast  multitudes, 
at  any  moment  that  a  foreign  war  might  arise.  Could  Your  Excellency 
believe  that  under  such  circumstances  my  government  would  give  its  as- 
sent to  a  principle,  or  think  for  a  moment  of  repealing  a  law,  the  effect 
of  which,  if  imitated  by  foreign  nations,  would  be  that  every  one  of  its 
numerous  citizens  in  foreign  parts  would  be  liable  to  be  detained  in  any 
hostile  country,  with  whom  the  United  States  might  happen  to  engage 
in  hostilities,  because  all  such  citizens  are  held  liable  at  home,  as  in  this 
case,  to  be  called  on  to  do  military  duty  ?  No  !  I  pray  Your  Excel- 
lency to  consider  the  statute  provision  referred  to,  tested  as  it  has  been 
by  a  long  series  of  years,  and  reiterated  in  sentiment  as  it  has  been  over 
and  over  again  in  numerous  subsequent  treaties  of  the  United  States 
with  other  powers,  as  rather  a  fundamental,  organic  element  of  Ameri- 
can policy,  than  as  a  passing  temporary  ordinance  which  could  readily 
yield  to  the  slightest  pressure  of  a  change  of  circumstances.  In  this 
sense  I  beg  to  put  it  upori  the  same  platform  as  the  neutrality  statutes 
of  the  United  States,  which  have  remained  essentially  the  same,  not- 
withstanding numerous  grave  crises,  ever  since  their  first  enactment  in 

1793- 

Your  Excellency  is  pleased  to  pay  the  compliment  to  the  distinguished 
American  publicist  Kent,  whose  opinion  I  took  the  liberty  to  cite,  to 
say,  that  in  regard  to  another  passage  quoted  by  me  he  limits  himself  to 
repeating  the  opinion  of  another,  without  expressing  his  own.  In  regard 
to  this  statute,  however,  Your  Excellency  will  observe  that  he  speaks 
for  himself  of  it,  as  "  dictated  by  a  humane  and  enlightened  policy  " 
(Vol.  I.,  Commentaries,  p.  58);  and  I  understand  him  to  extend  the 
same  comment  to  English  and  French  laws  of  the  days  of  Edward  III. 
and  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  and  the  ordinance  of  Charles  V.  of 
France,  which  declared  at  that  early  day  that  "foreign  merchants 
who  should  be  in  France  at  the  time  of  declaration  of  war  shall  have 
nothing  to  fear,  for  they  should  have  liberty  to  depart  freely  with  their 
effects." 

Will  Your  Excellency  also  allow  me  to  make,  in  regard  to  the  passage 
wherein  you  say  Chancellor  Kent  contents  himself  with  citing  Vattel 
without  giving  his  own  opinion,  that  the  learned  chancellor  says  (five 
lines  earlier,  page  56)  in  his  own  person  that  "  such  stipulations  (as  al- 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


53 


lowing  foreign  subjects  a  reasonable  time  after  the  war  breaks  out  to  re- 
cover and  dispose  of  their  effects,  or  to  withdraw  them)  have  now  be- 
come an  established  formula  in  commercial  treaties."  If  this  should 
seem  to  be  limited  to  the  right  of  the  foreigner  to  withdraw  his  property 
only,  and  not  his  person,  I  beg  to  ask  if  the  concession  of  the  lesser  priv- 
ilege does  not,  a  fortiori,  imply  that  of  the  greater.  How  can  one  be 
supposed  to  be  able  to  withdraw  his  goods  and  effects  [without]  with- 
drawing himself  also  ?  Vattel,  in  the  passage  immediately  following  (as 
do  most  of  the  writers  on  public  law  which  I  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  consult),  puts  the  two  concessions  upon  the  same  common  co-ordi- 
nate basis.  And  since  Your  Excellency  has  done  me  the  honor  to  refer 
to  Vattel  in  connection  with  Kent,  will  you  permit  me  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  the  American  commentator,  in  quoting  Vattel, 
fails  to  translate  into  English  the  full  force  of  the  Swiss  publicist's  dic- 
tum, which  I  beg  leave  to  characterize  as  one  of  the  most  forcible  as 
well  as  most  accurate  expressions  of  the  sentiments  which  I  am  trying 
to  express  in  behalf  of  my  government  that  can  anywhere  be  found. 
With  Your  Excellency's  permission,  I  will  quote  the  whole  paragraph 
from  the  original  French  : 

"  Le  souverain  qui  declare  la  guerre  ne  peut  retenir  les  sujets  de  1'en- 
nemi  qui  se  trouvent  dans  ses  etats  au  moment  de  la  declaration,  non 
plus  que  leurs  effets  ;  ils  sont  venus  chez  lui  sur  la  foi  publique  ;  en 
leur  permettant  d'entrer  dans  ses  terres  et  d'y  sejourner,  il  leur  a  promis 
tacitement  toute  liberte  et  toute  surete  pour  le  retour.  II  doit  done  leur 
marquer  un  temps  convenable  pour  se  retirer  avec  leurs  effets  ;  et  s'ils 
restent  au  dela  du  terme  present,  il  est  en  droit  de  les  trailer  en  enne- 
mis,  toutefois  en  ennemis  des  amis.  Mais  s'ils  sont  retenus  par  un  em- 
pechement  insurmontable,  par  une  maladie,  il  faut  necessairement,  et  par 
les  memes  raisons,  leur  accorder  un  juste  delai.  Loin  de  manquer  a  ce 
devoir  aujourd'hui  on  donne  plus  encore  a  1'humanite,  et  tres  souvent 
on  accorde  aux  etrangers,  sujets  de  1'etat  auquel  on  a  declare  la  guerre, 
tout  le  temps  de  mettre  ordre  a  leurs  affaires." 

These  sentiments  lose  none  of  their  force  when  it  is  remembered  that 
they  were  uttered  more  than  a  century  ago. 

I  will  only  allow  myself  a  single  further  observation  in  regard  to  the 
judicial  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  upon 
which  Your  Excellency  bestows  a  passing  observation.  When  Chancel- 
lor Kent  speaks  of  the  "  ancient  and  sterner  rule  having  become  defini- 
tively settled  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,"  he  does  not 
point  his  comment  with  his  usual  accuracy.  It  was  only  with  reference 
to  the  confiscation  of  property,  and  not  the  detention  of  persons,  that  the 


54 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   WAR. 


American  Supreme  Court  was  deciding  ;  and  it  was  only  in  reference 
to  the  formula  that  the  learned  chancellor's  comment  was  pertinent, 
and  what,  I  pray  Your  Excellency  to  observe,  was  that  decision  ?  The 
lower  court  (the  eminent  Judge  Story)  had  decided  that  British  prop- 
erty found  on  American  territory  during  the  war  of  1812  was  right- 
fully seized  and  confiscated  by  the  United  States  Government,  but  the 
Supreme  Court  overruled  this  decision,  and  held  that  enemies'  property 
was  not  liable  to  detention  without  a  special  statute  of  the  United 
States  Congress  to  that  effect ;  and  I  beg  Your  Excellency's  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  United  States  never  have  passed  any  such  statute  of 
confiscation  apropos  of  a  foreign  war,  down  to  this  day ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, at  the  present  moment,  by  the  decision  of  the  highest  American 
tribunal,  if  any  such  war  shall  hereafter  .break  out,  an  enemy's  property 
will  not  be  liable  to  confiscation.  As  for  his  personal  security,  I  beg 
leave  to  say  that  the  belligerent  stranger  may  fall  back,  with  perfect 
security,  upon  the  law  of  1798,  above  commented  on,  and,  as  I  be- 
lieve, with  perfect  assurance  that  he  will  not  see  its  repeal  attempted, 
much  less  accomplished,  whatever  may  be  the  pressure  of  a  foreign 
war. 

I  trust  that  Your  Excellency  will  see  that  in  this  more  extended  reply 
to  the  communication  of  the  3d  instant  than  I  intended,  I  have  in  view 
but  the  single  point  of  representing,  so  far  as  I  may  do,  without  other 
instructions  from  home,  the  deep  interest  which  I  am  confident  my 
government  will  take  in  the  decision  which  the  government  of  France 
feels  itself  constrained  by  circumstances  to  adopt  in  regard  to  North 
German  subjects,  whose  interests  I  am  permitted  by  the  comity  of  His 
Majesty  to  represent  and  befriend. 

I  take  the  present  opportunity,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

His  Excellency  the  DUKE  DE  GRAMONT, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

Now  this  extraordinary  state  of  things  occurred  :  in 
the  first  place,  the  Duke  de  Gramont  had,  in  violation  of 
the  well-known  principles  of  International  Law,  refused 
to  permit  a  certain  class  of  Germans  to  leave  the  French 
territory.  But  very  soon  after  that,  an  order  of  expul- 
sion was  issued  which  drove  every  German  man,  woman, 
and  child  out  of  France,  unless  a  special  permis  de  sejour 
was  had  from  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    FIRST    FRENCH    DEFEATS. 

Suppression  of  the  News  in  Paris — Crowds  Exasperated  by  a  false  Report  of 
Victory — Paris  Declared  in  a  State  of  Siege — An  Interview  with  the  Em- 
press—Expulsion of  the  Germans — An  Extraordinary  Session  of  the  Corps 
Le"gislatif — The  Fall  of  a  Ministry — A  Panic  among  German  Residents. 

IT  was  on  July  28th,  1870,  that  the  Emperor  left  the 
palace  of  St.  Cloud,  to  take  command  of  the  army  in 
person.  A  gentleman  belonging  to  the  Court,  who  was 
present  at  the  moment  of  departure,  recounted  to  me 
that  the  occasion  was  a  most  solemn  one,  and  that  even 
then  there  was  a  prescience  that  the  Emperor  was  leaving 
Paris  never  to  return.  By  a  decree,  the  Empress  was 
made  Regent  during  the  absence  of  the  Emperor.  She 
remained  at  the  palace  of  St.  Cloud.  Before  the  Em- 
peror left  for  the  army,  he  issued  a  proclamation  to  the 
French  people,  the  first  paragraph  of  which  was  as 
follows  :  "  Frenchmen  !  there  are  in  the  lives  of  people 
solemn  moments,  where  national  honor,  violently  ex- 
cited, imposes  itself  as  an  irresistible  force,  dominates 
all  interests,  and  takes  in  hand  the  direction  of  the  desti- 
nies of  the  country.  One  of  these  decisive  hours  has 
just  sounded  for  France.'' 

The  Emperor,  having  reached  the  French  head-quar- 
ters, there  was  a  skirmish  at  Saarbrucken,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  August  2d.  And  there  was  shed  the  first  blood 
in  the  stupendous  contest.  The  Emperor  and  the 
Prince  Imperial  were  present  at  the  engagement.  Na- 


56  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

polcon  magnified  that  little  affair  into  an  episode,  and 
sent  an  account  back  to  Paris  which  only  excited  ridi- 
cule ;  particularly,  that  part  of  it  in  which  he  stated  that 
Louis  had  received  "  Icbaptcme  de  feu."  These  proclama- 
tions did  not  disturb  the  Germans,  and  they  soon  put 
an  end  to  those  grotesque  fanfaronades. 

On  August  4th  took  place  the  first  great  battle  of  the 
war,  at  Weissenburg,  in  which  the  brave  General  Douay 
was  killed  on  the  field,  and  the  French  were  very  badly 
defeated.  They  here  fought  with  great  courage  and  des- 
peration, and  the  lustre  and  the  traditional  glory  of 
French  arms  were  upheld,  but  they  were  crushed  by  the 
overwhelming  German  forces. 

I  am  a  little  in  advance  of  my  history.  On  the  25th 
of  July,  I  received  from  the  State  Department,  a  de- 
spatch informing  me  that  General  Sheridan  and  two  staff 
officers  were  about  leaving  the  United  States  on  a  tour 
of  military  observation,  and  wished  to  join  the  French 
army.  I  immediately  addressed  a  note  to  the  Duke  de 
Gramont  on  the  subject,  and  I  had  not  the  least  doubt 
that  the  wish  of  General  Sheridan  and  the  desire  of  our 
government  would  be  complied  with,  and  that  the  Gen- 
eral would  be  given  every  facility  possible,  in  order  that 
the  object  of  his  visit  might  be  accomplished.  I  said  that 
General  Sheridan  had  been  authorized  bv  the  President 

j 

to  proceed  immediately  to  Europe  on  a  tour  of  military 
observation,  with  a  view  to  visit,  if  permitted,  the  French 
army,  accompanied  by  two  staff  officers.  I  added  that  I 
did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  inform  His  Excellency  that 
General  Sheridan  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
Union  officers  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  had 
contributed  very  largely  to  its  suppression.  I  ended  by 
expressing  a  wish  that  His  Majesty  would  accord  the 
permission  requested  by  my  government.  I  received  an 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  57 

answer  the  following  day  from  the  Duke  de  Gramont, 
and  greatly  to  my  surprise,  he  informed  me  that  he  was 
unable  to  comply  with  the  request  of  the  Washington 
government.  That  declination  was  couched  in  the  most 
courteous  words,  but  it  illustrated  the  old  saying  that 
"fine  words  butter  no  parsnips."  It  fully  showed  the  em- 
barrassment that  the  application  had  given  the  Foreign 
Office.  He  spoke  of  a  recent  decision  adopted  by  the 
Imperial  government  which  absolutely  prohibited  access 
of  all  foreign  officers  to  the  French  army.  He  said  that 
the  rule  was  applied  with  great  rigor  and  admitted  of  no 
exception.  (The  truth  of  the  matter  was,  the  French 
government  thought  they  were  going  to  have  such  a 
splendid  and  victorious  campaign  that  they  did  not  want 
anybody  to  see  how  it  was  accomplished.)  If  any  one 
could  be  admitted  to  accompany  the  army,  the  exception 
would  be  made  in  favor  of  the  illustrious  soldier  whose 
presence  among  the  French  officers  would  have  been 
considered  a  real  honor ;  and  he  said  he  dared  to  hope 
that  I  would  not  misunderstand  the  meaning  of  this  de- 
cision ;  for  it  was  very  painful  not  to  be  able  to  yield, 
in  the  particular  case  I  had  submitted.  He  trusted 
that  I  would  form  a  just  idea  of  the  importance  of  the 
motives  which  compelled  him  to  this  determination. 
And,  I  may  say,  that  I  did  form  a  just  and  true  idea  of 
such  motives. 

General  Sheridan,  being  thus  shut  out  peremptorily 
from  accompanying  the  French  army,  my  colleague,  Mr. 
Bancroft,  at  Berlin,  made  application  to  the  German  au- 
thorities for  permission  for  the  general  to  accompany 
their  army.  That  permission,  in  contrast  with  the  action 
of  the  French  government,  was  most  cheerfully  accorded 
to  General  Sheridan,  and  he  accompanied  the  German 
head-quarters  and  Count  Bismarck  for  a  long  time,  and 


58  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

during  the  most  important  operations  of  the  German 
army.  He  was  everywhere  most  cordially  received  by 
the  Germans  and  treated  with  unbounded  hospitality. 
He  saw  much  of  Count  Bismarck,  who  was  wonderfully 
impressed  by  his  great  ability.  When  I  subsequently 
met  Bismarck,  who  had  become  Prince  Bismarck,  in  Ber- 
lin, in  September,  1877,  the  first  question  he  asked  me 
was,  "What  news  have  you  from  General  Sheridan?"  and 
then  said  with  much  earnestness,  "  That  man  has  a  great 
military  head  on  his  shoulders."  After  the  battle  of 
Weissenburg,  the  French  army  submitted  to  a  double 
defeat.  MacMahon  was  defeated  at  Reichshoffen  and 
Frossard  at  Forbach. 

The  American  who  probably  saw  the  most  of  these 
first  battles,  and  who  followed  the  advance  of  the  French, 
was  my  old  friend  Murat  Halstead,  Esq.,  the  editor  of 
the  Cincinnati  Commercial.  Having  seen  much  of  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  in  our  own  country,  he  anticipated 
the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  between  France  and  Ger- 
many, and,  in  the  interests  of  his  great  journal,  Mr.  Hal- 
stead  came  to  Paris.  In  the  state  of  things  existing,  his 
adventure  in  following  up  the  French  army  was  a  very 
dangerous  one ;  but  he  undertook  it  with  undaunted 
courage.  I  gave  him  a  special  passport  as  an  American, 
and  covered  it  all  over  with  big  seals  ;  and  with  that  he 
started  out  to  meet  his  tribulations.  He  saw  and  de- 
scribed, in  wonderfully  instructive  and  attractive  letters 
to  his  paper,  many  great  and  interesting  events. 

When  these  events  were  in  progress,  the  two  nations 
were  in  full  war,  and  blood  was  flowing  like  water  on 
both  sides,  yet  the  people  of  Paris  could  get  no  trust- 
worthy information  from  the  seat  of  war,  though  in  New 
York  and  London  the  particulars  of  the  battle  of  Weis- 
senburg were  published  by  the  newspapers  the  next  day. 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  59 

The  feeling  of  suspense  and  the  excitement  in  Paris 
were  something  most  painful  and  extraordinary  at  this 
time,  and  everybody  was  on  the  qui  vive  in  search  of 
news.  It  was  not  until  the  London  Times  of  August  5th 
arrived  that  anybody  in  Paris  had  any  particulars  of  the 
battle  which  had  taken  place  at  Weissenburg.  Between 
twelve  and  one  o'clock  of  that  day,  a  very  brief  and  un- 
satisfactory notice  of  the  affair  was  communicated  to  the 
press  by  the  French  authorities.  The  suppression  of  the 
intelligence  for  so  long  a  time  excited  a  good  deal  of 
indignation  among  the  public,  and  the  Parisian  newspa- 
pers were  particularly  indignant  that  the  London  Times 
should  have  published  the  news  six  or  eight  hours  before 
it  was  given  out  to  them.  There  was  great  uneasiness 
and  discontent  all  over  the  city,  and  the  people  were  pre- 
pared for  anything. 

At  about  noon  on  the  next  day,  Saturday,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  and  extraordinary  events  took  place. 
It  showed  how  easily  large  masses  of  people  could  be 
deceived.  There  was  assembled,  as  usual  at  that  hour, 
a  great  crowd  of  people  in  front  of  the  Bourse.  It  was 
then  that  a  man  in  the  uniform  of  a  courier,  or  messen- 
ger, rode  up  in  front  of  the  Bourse  and  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  a  person,  who  was  evidently  his  confederate, 
what  he  pretended  was  an  official  despatch,  and  which 
gave  an  account  of  a  great  battle  having  been  fought,  in 
which  the  French  had  been  victorious,  taking  forty  guns 
and  twenty-five  thousand  prisoners,  among  whom  was 
the  Crown  Prince.  A  spark  of  fire  falling  upon  a  maga- 
zine could  hardly  have  produced  a  greater  explosion. 
The  assembled  multitude  broke  out  into  the  wildest 
shouts,  and  the  contents  of  the  despatch  were  repeated 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  men  ran  in  every  direction 
communicating  the  joyful  intelligence.  The  people 


6o 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

rushed  into  the  streets;  the  tri- 
color was  everywhere  displayed; 
men  embraced  and  kissed  each 
other,  shedding  tears  of  joy  ; 
shouts,  vociferations  and  oaths 
filled  the  air,  and 
such  a  deli- 
rium 
has 


been  seldom  witnessed. 

The  Rue  de  Richelieu, 

the    Boulevards     Mont- 

martre  and  des  Italiens, 

and  the  Rue  de  la  Paix 

were  filled  with   people 

singing  the  Marseillaise. 

Everybody  declared  that 

the  news  was  true  ;  the  official  report  had  been  seen  and 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  61 

closely  scanned,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  its  cor- 
rectness. Madame  Sass,  a  distinguished  opera  singer,  was 
found  in  the  street,  and  the  crowd  insisted  upon  her  sing- 
ing the  Marseillaise  from  her  carriage,  which  she  did  three 
times  amid  shouts  of  enthusiasm.  In  another  part  of  the 
street  the  multitude  forced  another  distinguished  singer 
to  mount  to  the  top  of  an  omnibus,  also  to  sing  the  Mar- 
seillaise. Soon  the  furor  of  enthusiasm  began  to  abate, 
and  some  persons  were  wise  enough  to  suggest  that  it 
would  be  well  to  inquire  more  particularly  into  the  news, 
and  to  see  whether  or  not  it  could  be  confirmed.  The 
result  was,  that  it  was  found  to  be  a  stupendous  hoax. 
The  songs  at  once  ceased,  the  flags  were  taken  in,  and 
the  victims  of  the  canard  began  to  feel  indignant.  As  the 
affair  originated  at  the  Bourse,  the  cry  was  raised  in  the 
crowd  "a  la  Bourse''  and  away  the  people  went,  breath- 
ing vengeance  against  the  money-changers  and  specula- 
tors, who,  it  was  alleged,  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
false  report  to  get  the  benefit  of  a  rise  of  about  four  per 
cent,  in  the  stocks.  Never  were  money-changers  more 
summarily  driven  out  of  their  temples.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments, all  persons  in  the  Bourse  were  expelled,  some  of 
whom,  it  was  said,  were  thrown  head  and  heels  out  of 
the  windows  and  doors.  About  half-past  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  crowd,  greatly  exasperated  at  hav- 
ing been  made  victims  of  so  cruel  a  hoax,  started  from 
the  Bourse  and  directed  themselves  toward  the  Place 
Vendome,  halting  under  the  windows  of  the  Ministry  of 
Justice.  There  they  shouted  for  Emile  Ollivier,  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  and  demanded  of  him  the  closing  of 
the  Bourse  from  which  the  false  news  had  emanated.  M. 
Ollivier  responded  in  a  short  and  well-turned  speech, 
closing  by  asking  them  to  disperse;  which  they  did.  But 
still  there  was  great  excitement  all  over  the  city,  and 


62 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


there  was  intense  indignation  at  so  easily  being  made  the 
victims  of  a  vile  canard. 

At  half-past  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day, 


Demonstration    Against  Ollivier. 


I  rode  down  to  the  Place  Vendome,  and  found  another 
crowd  of  about  three  thousand  persons  gathered  in  front 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  63 

of  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  and  demanding  that  M.  Olli- 
vier  should  show  himself  and  make  another  speech.  As 
he  had  already  made  one  speech  to  the  crowd,  he  consid- 
ered that  quite  enough  for  one  day,  and  so  he  refused  to 
appear.  At  this  refusal  the  vociferations  were  increased, 
and  hostile  cries  were  raised  against  the  minister  by  the 
multitude,  who  demanded  the  author  of  the  false  news, 
and  reclaimed  the  liberty  of  the  press,  which,  they  in- 
sisted, had  been  muzzled  ;  for  if  it  had  been  free  to  give 
information,  no  such  event  could  have  happened.  I  saw 
this  turbulent  crowd  in  front  of  the  Ministry,  and  stopped 
to  ascertain  the  cause  of  it.  Notwithstanding  M.  Olli- 
vier  had  refused  to  make  his  appearance  at  the  window 
in  the  first  place,  the  pressure  was  so  great  that  he  was 
finally  obliged  to  yield.  Such  was  the  tumult  and  noise 
that  it  was  impossible  for  me  where  I  stood  to  hear  pre- 
cisely what  he  said,  but  it  was  evidently  not  very  satis- 
factory, for  the  people  did  not  disperse  immediately,  as 
he  had  requested,  but  began  shouting  in  favor  of  the 
liberty  of  the  press  and  raising  hostile  cries  against  M. 
Ollivier.  The  public  held  him  responsible  for  the  terri- 
ble severity  of  the  press  law.  Everything  was  required 
to  come  through  official  channels,  and  it  was  given  out 
at  such  times  and  in  such  measure  as  might  suit  the  pur- 
poses of  the  government. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening,  a  gentleman  con- 
nected with  my  legation,  going  down  town,  found  the 
Place  Vendome  again  literally  crammed  with  both  men 
and  women,  who  were  in  the  highest  state  of  excitement, 
singing  a  new  song  called  the  "  Press  Song,"  and  raising 
menacing  cries  against  the  Minister  of  Justice.  After- 
ward, large  crowds  of  people  collected  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix,  on  the  Boulevards  and  in  the  Place  de  la  Made- 
leine, all  singing  and  shouting,  and  all  in  bad  temper. 


64  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

But  large  bodies  of  troops  being  in  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity, no  acts  of  violence  were  perpetrated. 

The  Journal  Officiel  of  the  next  day  (Sunday)  con- 
tained a  despatch  of  two  lines,  dated  at  Metz,  at  eleven 
o'clock  the  evening  before  (Saturday).  Here  is  the  text 
of  the  despatch  :  "  The  Corps  of  General  Frossard  is  in 
retreat.  There  are  no  details."  This  and  nothing  more. 
And  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  such  a  despatch  in- 
spired the  greatest  uneasiness  and  anxiety.  It  gave  no 
indication  of  where  the  battle  was  fought  or  what  was 
the  extent  of  the  losses,  and  naturally  the  great  Paris 
public  was  tormented  with  fear  and  suspense.  A  proc- 
lamation of  the  Empress  and  her  Ministry  appeared  at 
noon  in  the  second  edition  of  the  Journal  Officiel.  This 
proclamation  contained  a  bulletin  from  the  Emperor, 
dated  at  Metz,  at  half-past  twelve  o'clock  Sunday  morn- 
ing, announcing  that  Marshal  MacMahon  had  lost  a  bat- 
tle and  that  General  Frossard  had  been  obliged  to  re- 
treat. Another  bulletin  from  the  Emperor,  dated  at 
Metz,  three  hours  later,  announced  that  his  communica- 
tion with  Marshal  MacMahon  was  interrupted,  and  that  he 
had  had  no  news  of  him  since  the  day  before  ;  and  still 
another  despatch,  one  hour  later,  from  head-quarters  at 
Metz,  both  of  which  were  also  contained  in  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  giving  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  battles  of  MacMahon  and  Frossard,  but  it 
said  that  the  details  were  wanting.  It  further  stated 
that  the  troops  were  full  of  clan,  and  that  the  situa- 
tion was  not  compromised,  but  that  the  enemy  was 
on  French  territory  and  a  serious  effort  was  necessary. 
Thereupon  the  proclamation  said  that  in  the  presence 
of  the  grave  news,  the  duty  was  clear,  that  there- 
fore : 

"  The  Chambers  are  convoked  ;  we  shall  place  Paris  in  a  state  of  de- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  65 

fence  ;  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  military  preparations,  we  declare  it 
in  a  state  of  siege." 

A  decree  of  the  Empress- Regent  convoked  the  Senate 
and  the  Corps  Legislatif  for  Thursday  the  nth  of  Au- 
gust. Another  decree  by  Her  Majesty  placed  the  de- 
partment of  the  Seine  in  a  state  of  siege.  No  person 
not  in  Paris  at  the  time  could  have  any  adequate  idea  of 
the  state  of  feeling  which  the  extraordinary  news  from 
the  battle-field  had  created,  to  which  was  added  the  dec- 
laration of  the  siege  of  Paris  and  the  convocation  of  the 
Corps  Legislatif.  Never  had  Paris  seen  such  a  day  since 
the  time  of  the  first  revolution.  The  whole  people  ap- 
peared to  be  paralyzed  by  the  terrible  events  which  had 
burst  upon  them  in  such  rapid  and  fearful  succession. 
The  rain  had  some  influence  in  keeping  the  people  from 
the  street ;  but  on  going  down  town  on  the  afternoon  of 
Sunday,  I  found  the  people  collected  in  knots  about  the 
Grand  Hotel  and  on  the  Boulevards,  reading  the  news- 
papers and  discussing  the  situation.  Soon  after,  I  saw 
large  crowds  of  people  proceeding  in  the  rain  toward  the 
Ministry  of  Justice  in  the  Place  Vendome,  which  seemed 
to  be  the  objective  point,  owing  to  the  hostility  which  ex- 
isted against  Emile  Ollivier.  The  rain,  however,  damp- 
ened the  ardor  of  the  crowd  and  it  soon  dispersed. 

After  this  exhibition,  which  would  never  have  taken 
place  had  the  people  been  advised  of  the  true  state  of 
things  in  the  field  of  military  operations,  the  French  gov- 
ernment wisely  concluded  that  it  was  no  use  to  try  any 
longer  to  conceal  the  real  state  of  facts.  Then  they  be 
gan  to  give  out  certain  laconic  and  ambiguous  despatches, 
which  still  increased  the  public  anxiety.  They  all 
summed  up  that  the  French  arms  had  been  terribly 
beaten.  The  full  particulars  of  the  fatal  battles  had,  by 
this  time,  reached  the  Empress  at  the  palace  of  St.  Cloud. 

5 


66 


THE  FIRST  FREXCH  DEFEATS. 


The  last  and  most  fatal  and  disquieting  news  reached  her  in 
the  night  of  August  6th.    Overcome  and  almost  distracted 


The    Empress   Eugenie 


by  the  terrible  blow,  she  determined  that  night  to  go  at 

once  to  Paris  and  take  up  her  residence  at  the  Tuileries. 

Soon  after  the  Emperor  left   Paris,  I  received  a  com- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  67 

munication  from  my  government  which,  according  to 
diplomatic  etiquette,  had  to  be  presented  to  the  Em- 
peror in  person.  In  his  absence,  it  had  to  be  presented 
to  the  Empress-Regent.  I  had  announced  at  the  For- 
eign Office  the  mission  with  which  I  was  charged,  and 
asked  when  I  could  be  received  by  the  Empress-Regent. 
An  early  day  was  designated,  and  at  the  palace  of  St. 
Cloud.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  appointed  day,  I 
received  a  note  stating  that  I  would  be  received  at  the 
Tuileries  at  eleven  o'clock,  instead  of  at  St.  Cloud.  It 
was  during  the  previous  night  that  the  terrible  news  had 
been  received  from  the  battle-field  which  had  brought  the 
Empress  into  the  Tuileries.  At  the  hour  fixed,  I  went  to 
the  palace  to  perform  my  mission.  Received  by  the  Mas- 
ter of  Ceremonies,  I  was  soon  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  the  Empress-Regent.  After  the  ordinary  salutation  and 
the  delivery  of  my  message,  we  entered  into  conversation 
in  respect  to  the  news  which  had  just  been  made  public 
in  Paris.  She  had  evidently  passed  a  sleepless  and  agi- 
tated night,  and  was  in  great  distress  of  mind.  She  at 
once  began  to  speak  of  the  terrible  news  which  she  had 
received,  and  of  the  effect  it  would  have  on  the  French 
people.  I  suggested  to  her  that  the  news  might  not  be 
so  bad  as  reported,  and  that  the  consequences,  in  the  end, 
might  be  far  better  than  the  present  circumstances  indi- 
cated. I  spoke  to  her  about  our  first  battle  of  Bull  Run 
and  the  defeat  that  the  Union  armies  had  suffered  ;  and 
that  such  defeat  had  only  stimulated  to  greater  exertions, 
and  had  led  to  that  display  of  courage,  heroism  and  en- 
durance, which  had,  in  the  end,  suppressed  the  Rebellion. 
She  replied  :  "  I  only  wish  the  French,  in  these  respects, 
were  like  you  Americans  ;  but  I  am  afraid  they  will  be 
too  much  discouraged  and  give  up  too  soon." 

On  the  same  day  she   issued  a  proclamation  to   the 


68  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

French  people  in  which  she  frankly  avowed  that  the 
French  arms  had  submitted  to  a  check,  and  she  implored 
the  people  to  be  firm  in  their  reverse  and  hasten  to  re- 
pair it ;  that  there  should  be  among  them  only  one  party, 
that  of  France,  and  only  one  thought,  and  that  of  the 
national  arms.  She  closed  by  adjuring  all  good  citizens 
to  maintain  order  ;  for  to  trouble  it,  would  be  to  conspire 
with  the  enemy.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  the  excitement 
and  indignation  among  the  people  of  Paris  upon  the  re- 
ception of  the  news  of  the  first  disastrous  battle.  After 
the  declaration  of  war,  they  seemed  to  have  convinced 
themselves  that  the  French  army  would  go  straight  for- 
ward, conquering  and  to  conquer,  and  that  Berlin  would 
be  at  their  feet  "  en  huit  jours'"  (in  eight  days).  The 
trifling  affair  at  Saarbrucken  having  been  unwarrantably 
exaggerated,  had  given  the  people  great  hopes.  While 
waiting  with  confidence  reports  of  new  victories,  the 
unquestioned  defeats  at  Weissenburg,  Reichshoffen  and 
Forbach  produced  the  most  stunning  effect.  They  had 
been  most  completely  humbugged  by  the  canard  in  regard 
to  the  pretended  victory  by  MacMahon.  Like  all  people 
who  have  been  deceived  and  humbugged,  they  became 
very  much  exasperated.  The  Empress-Regent  had  come 
to  the  Tuileries  and  had  issued  her  proclamation,  all  of 
which  tended  to  increase  the  excitement. 

All  Paris  was  under  the  empire  of  the  most  profound 
emotion.  It  was  in  the  evening  that  there  was  the  great- 
est excitement ;  the  gatherings  on  the  Boulevards  were 
immense,  and  people  were  singing,  swearing  and  yelling 
by  turns.  One  evening  when  I  was  down  town  an  im- 
mense procession  had  been  formed,  and  the  people  were 
marching  in  twos  on  the  Boulevards  des  Italiens  and 
Madeleine,  and  they  kept  step  to  the  words  issuing  from 
every  mouth,  "Vive  chassepdt,  Vivechassepot" 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  69 

At  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war,  it  was  estimated 
that  there  were  thirty  thousand  Germans  in  Paris,  and  it 
was  soon  after  that  I  was  charged  with  their  protection, 
as  I  have  here  related.  The  news  of  the  German  tri- 
umphs seemed  to  have  inflamed  the  natural  hatred  of  the 
Parisians  towards  the  Germans  in  the  city.  This  caused 
the  greatest  anxiety  and  uneasiness  among  that  peaceable 
and  law-abiding  people.  This  hostility  was  manifested 
in  every  possible  way,  and  the  consequence  was  that 
there  was  a  general  desire  among  the  Germans  to  get 
out  of  Paris  so  soon  as  possible  ;  but  the  French  gov- 
ernment decided  as  I  have  stated,  that  they  would  not 
give  passports  to  such  Germans  as  owed  military  service 
to  their  government.  That  action  caused  me  great  em- 
barrassment, for  how  could  I  tell  anything  in  respect  to 
those  who  owed  military  service  and  those  who  did  not  ? 
I  could  give  a  laissez-passer  to  women,  children  and  old 
men  ;  but  if  I  gave  one  to  a  German  who  owed  military 
service,  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  leave  Paris  and 
France,  and  my  laissez-passer  might  be  rejected.  The 
consequence  was  that  in  the  first  days  the  number  of 
passports  given  was  comparatively  limited,  although  the 
numbers  at  the  legation  seeking  such  permission  were 
very  great. 

The  German  government,  at  a  very  early  period, 
seemed  to  appreciate  the  extent  and  responsibilities  of 
my  position.  Anticipating  that  my  protection  of  their 
nationaux  would  devolve  upon  me  great  additional  labor, 
and  require  additional  clerk-hire  in  my  legation,  Mr. 
Bancroft  was  requested  to  write  to  me  to  employ  all  the 
help  I  wanted  at  the  expense  of  the  German  govern- 
ment. Mr.  Bancroft  was  in  accord  with  me  in  the  opin- 
ion that,  as  the  German  government  had  accepted  our 
hospitalities,  we  could  not  consent  that  it  should  be  at 


7o  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

any  expense.  Soon  becoming  acquainted  with  the  des- 
titute and  lamentable  condition  of  a  large  number  of 
Germans  in  Paris,  the  German  government  placed  at 
my  disposal  a  credit  of  fifty  thousand  thalers  in  the  aid 
of  their  subjects  in  Paris.  This  amount  I  placed  with 
the  Rothschilds,  and  directed  that  the  credit  should  not 
stand  in  my  name  individually,  but  in  the  name  of  the 
"  Minister  of  the  United  States,  charged  with  the  protec- 
tion of  the  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation 
in  France,  pending  the  existing  war  between  France  and 
Prussia  " 

On  August  1 2th  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State  that 
the  credits  had  come  none  too  soon,  and  that  five  hun- 
dred subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation  had 
been  to  my  legation  on  that  day  to  get  their  passports  to 
leave  the  French  territory.  Among  the  number  there 
were  many  persons  of  extreme  poverty,  and  whose  con- 
dition was  in  every  respect  most  deplorable.  After  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  no  Germans  had  been  able  to 
get  any  work,  and  the  poorer  classes  had  already  ex- 
hausted the  little  they  had  in  store.  They  were,  there- 
fore, without  work,  without  money,  without  credit,  with- 
out friends,  without  bread.  Pinched  with  hunger,  terri- 
fied by  threats  of  violence,  with  no  means  of  leaving  the 
country,  they  had  come  to  me  to  aid  them.  Women 
with  little  babes  in  their  arms,  and  women  far  gone  in 
pregnancy,  bathed  in  tears  and  filled  with  anguish,  had 
come  to  our  legation  as  their  last  hope.  Besides  trans- 
portation, I  gave  each  one  thirty  francs,  which  was  an 
amount  sufficient  to  enable  the  party  to  reach  the  Ger- 
man frontier,  and  once  there,  I  had  no  doubt  they  would 
be  kindly  cared  for.  And  that  was  in  fact  the  case.  I 
heard  afterwards  with  what  kindness  and  sympathy  these 
poor  people  were  treated  as  soon  as  they  touched  the 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  ji 

soil  of  their  fatherland.  Great  numbers  of  people  turned 
out  at  every  railroad  station  to  greet  them,  and  to  fur- 
nish them  with  food  and  sometimes  with  clothing. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  effect  which  the  French  defeats 
had  in  Paris,  and  how  they  aggravated  the  hostilities  of 
the  Parisians  toward  the  German  people,  and  how  much 
it  had  added  to  my  labor  and  responsibilities,  in  protect- 
ing them  from  Parisian  hostilities.  There  were  constant 
threats,  and  occasional  instances  of  violence,  which  were 
enough  to  create  great  terror  among  the  Germans. 
Where  there  was  really  any  danger,  I  had  no  hesitation 
in  placing  them  under  the  protection  of  the  American 
flag. 

On  August  9th,  the  Figaro,  a  widely  circulated  paper 
in  Paris,  came  out  in  a  violent  article,  denouncing  the 
Germans  and  demanding  their  immediate  expulsion 
from  Paris.  It  proposed  that  all  Germans  who  were 
able  to  pay  their  passage  should  be  embarked  at  Havre 
in  twenty-four  hours,  and  that  all  those  who  had  not 
the  means  of  leaving,  should  be  put  under  lock  and 
key,  a  proposition  at  once  savage  and  disgraceful.  Ex- 
citations like  this  in  the  Figaro  and  other  Paris  jour- 
nals had  their  effect,  even  in  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties. On  the  same  day,  the  matter  was  brought  up  in 
the  Chamber.  There  was  quite  an  exciting  debate  in 
the  Corps  Legislatif.  M.  Chevreau,  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, said  the  government  judged  it  proper  to  prevent 
certain  Prussians  from  going  out  of  Paris,  in  order  to 
hinder  them  from  joining  the  army  of  the  enemy.  Gam- 
betta  cried  out,  "  You  have  violated  the  first  law  of 
patriotism  ;"  M.  Chevreau  continued,  that  the  presence 
of  foreigners  was  extremely  injurious  to  the  interests  of 
the  national  defence,  and  that  they  had  taken  measures 
to  expel  those  who  were  at  that  moment  in  the  capital. 


72  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

M.  Cre"mieux  asked  whether  it  was  to  "expel,"  or  per- 
mit to  leave.  M.  Eugene  Pelletan,  a  republican,  and 
one  of  the  most  serious  members  of  the  Corps  Legislatif, 
said  that  the  government  had  committed  two  mistakes. 
The  first  was,  in  not  having  permitted  the  Germans  to 
leave  when  they  asked  to  go.  It  was  a  violation  of  the 
rights  of  persons.  The  second  was,  to  drive  them  out 
under  the  circumstances  that  then  existed.  Such  Ger- 
mans had  been  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Amer- 
ican legation.  He  said  that  the  character  of  the  war  was 
serious  enough  without  seeking  to  implicate  those  who 
had  committed  no  fault. 

The  old  Marquis  de  Piennes  mingled  in  the  debate, 
and  with  great  good  sense,  remarked  that  humanity  and 
civilization  would  repel  any  measure  that  would  strike, 
without  distinction,  the  Germans  who  had  long  resided 
in  France,  and  who,  by  their  industry  and  labor,  had  con- 
tributed to  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 

The  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  seemed  to  have  been 
touched  by  this,  said  that  the  order  for  expulsion  should 
be  administered  with  discrimination,  and  where  the  per- 
sons were  peaceable  citizens  and,  so  to  speak,  naturalized 
by  a  long  sojourn  in  France,  by  their  habits  and  family 
ties,  he  would  hardly  have  the  cruelty  to  expel  them  from 
France.  Yet,  the  order  to  expel  en  masse  remained  and 
was  practically  carried  out.  General  Trochu,  who  had 
become  Governor  of  Paris,  issued  a  proclamation  direct- 
ing the  useless  mouths  (bouches  inutiles),  the  strangers 
and  persons  designated  by  the  civil  and  military  authori- 
ties, to  leave  Paris. 

I  should  have  stated  that,  after  the  declaration  of  war, 
all  the  ambassadors  representing  the  courts  of  Europe 
left  Paris,  under  the  direction,  or  with  the  consent  of 
their  governments.  I  was  the  only  minister  of  a  first- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  73 

class  power  who  remained.  But  several  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  smaller  powers  stayed  at  their  posts. 
Among  these  was  Mr.  Kern,  who  had  been  charged  with 
the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  Bavaria  and  Baden,  an 
able  and  wise  man,  and  one  who  had  had  much  diplo- 
matic experience  ;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  my  relations 
with  him  during  my  whole  term  of  service  in  Paris 
were  of  the  most  cordial  and  friendly  character.  He  was 
open,  straightforward  and  honest,  and  was  ever  held  in 
the  highest  consideration  by  all  his  colleagues.  Mr. 
Okouneff,  who,  for  a  time,  remained  in  Paris  as  Russian 
charge  d'affaires,  was  charged  with  the  protection  of  the 
Wiirtembergers. 

The  excitement  in  Paris  caused  by  the  French  defeats 
could  not  be  allayed,  but  seemed  to  increase  every  day 
and  every  hour.  The  Corps  Legislatif  was  the  great 
point  of  interest,  as  every  one  looked  to  that  body  for 
some  action  which  might  stem  the  tide  of  disaster  which 
was  then  rolling  over  Paris  and  France.  The  meeting  of 
the  Corps  Legislatif,  on  Tuesday,  August  gth,  presented 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  spectacles  which  had  ever 
taken  place  in  a  French  legislative  body,  except  in  the 
very  heat  of  the  Revolution  of  '89.  I  had  seen  much  tur- 
bulence in  our  own  House  of  Representatives  before  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  I  was  present  when  the  Grow 
and  Keitt  fight  took  place,  at  a  night  session,  where  the 
members  had  a  hand-to-hand  scuffle  in  the  area  in  front 
of  the  Speaker's  chair;  "  all  of  which  I  saw,  and  a  part  of 
which  I  was;"  but  never  had  I  seen  anything  that  would 
parallel  the  scene  which  took  place  in  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif. 

The  day  for  the  opening  of  that  body  was  looked  for- 
ward to  with  great  interest  by  the  Parisians.  I  fully 
appreciated  that  the  session  would  be  a  remarkable  one, 


74  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

and  so  I  went  early  to  the  Palais  Bourbon  in  order  taget 
a  good  seat  in  the  diplomatic  tribune,  so  that  I  could  see 
and  hear  all  that  took  place. 

The  President  took  his  seat  at  half-past  one  o'clock, 
P.M.,  and  then  the  members  came  rapidly  into  the  hall. 
The  ministers  took  their  places  on  the  ministerial 
benches,  and  all  were  present  excepting  the  Minister  of 
War  who  was  in  the  field.  The  Corps  Legislatif,  at  this 
time,  might  be  said  to  be  composed  of  men  of  more  than 
ordinary  ability,  and  many  of  them  of  much  political  ex- 
perience, and  who  had  been  somewhat  distinguished  in  one 
way  or  another.  As  a  body,  it  was  composed  of  older 
men  than  the  members  of  our  House  of  Representatives, 
at  Washington,  and  the  number  of  deputies  was  about 
the  same  as  in  our  House.  Its  political  divisions  were 
known  as  the  "Right,"  the  "Centre,"  and  the  "Left," 
and  some  went  still  farther,  and  classed  the  parties  not 
only  as  the  Right,  Centre  and  Left,  but  added  the 
"  Centre  Right,"  "  Centre  Left "  and  the  "  Extreme 
Left."  The  prominent  deputies  at  this  time  of  the  Ex- 
treme Right  were  Forcade-Laroquette,  Pinard,  Duver- 
nois,  Cassagnac  and  Jerome  David,  all  men  of  a  certain 
ability,  and  with  more  or  less  parliamentary  experience. 
In  the  Centre  Left  there  was  a  large  number  of  men  of 
fair  ability  and  high  character,  like  Daru,  Buffet,  Mege, 
Chevanclier  de  Valdrome,  and  Marquis  de  Talhouet. 
M.  Ollivier  was  classed  with  the  Centre  Left,  and  was 
the  only  orator  of  any  distinction  who  appertained  to 
that  division.  The  real  ability,  the  dash,  the  boldness 
and  the  eloquence  appertained  to  the  Left.  Many  of 
those  men  had  the  qualities  attributed  to  the  Girondists 
in  the  National  Convention.  It  was  interesting  to 
watch  the  deputies  coming  into  the  hall ;  the  members 
of  the  Right  and  Centre  quietly  took  their  seats,  but 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


75 


there  was  much  agitation  among  the  members  of  the 
Left.  In  fact,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  there  was  a  storm 
brewing. 

The  President,  having  declared  the  session  opened, 
had  only  read  the  formal  part  of  the  proclamation,  recit- 
ing, "  By  the  grace  of  God  and  the  national  will,  Empe- 
ror of  the  French,"  etc.,  when  many  members  of  the  Left 
broke  out  in  furious  exclamations,  saying  that  they  did 
not  want  any  more  of  that,  and  it  was  some  time  before 
the  President  could  finish  reading  the  document.  After 
he  had  concluded,  he  awarded  the  floor  to  M.  Ollivier, 
Minister  of  Justice,  who  mounted  the  tribune  and  com- 
menced developing  the  reasons  why  the  Chamber  was 
called  together.  He  had  only  said  a  few  words  when  he 
was  met  with  the  most  boisterous  and  insulting  interrup- 
tions. A  member  of  the  Left  having  cried  out  that  the 
country  had  been  compromised,  Jules  Favre  exclaimed, 
"Yes  ;  by  the  imbecility  of  its  Chief!  Come  down  from 
the  tribune  !  It  is  a  shame  ! "  Arago  cried  out  that  the 
public  safety  required  that  the  ministers  should  get  out 
of  the  way.  Pelletan  said,  "You  have  lost  the  country, 
but  it  will  save  itself  in  spite  of  you  ! "  At  length,  Ol- 
livier was  able  to  complete  his  speech,  which  he  read 
from  a  written  manuscript. 

The  floor  was  then  given  to  General  de  Jean,  the  Min- 
ister of  War,  ad  interim,  who  proposed  a  law,  and  stated 
the  reason  therefor.  Jules  Favre  then  obtained  the 
floor  and  proposed  resolutions  in  relation  to  the  defence 
of  the  country,  looking  to  the  reorganization  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard.  He  mounted  the  tribune  to  speak  on  his 
resolutions.  A  tall,  heavy  man,  with  rough,  strong  feat- 
ures, plainly  dressed  and  with  an  immense  head  of  hair, 
he  was  a  great  orator,  and,  at  this  time,  he  rose  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  eloquence,  and  denounced  in  unmeasured 


76 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


terms  the  weakness,  mismanagement  and  folly  of  the 
ministers,  and  the  wretched  manner  in  which  the  army 
had  been  commanded.  He  said  that  it  was  necessary 
that  the  Emperor  should  abandon  his  head-quarters  and 
return  to  Paris,  and  that,  in  order  to  save  the  country, 
the  Chamber  should  take  all  the  powers  into  its  own 
hands.  He  then  proposed  a  decree  providing  for  an 
Executive  Committee  of  fifteen  deputies,  who  should  be 
invested  with  the  full  power  of  government  to  repel 

foreign  invasion.  This  proposi- 
tion was  received  with  yells  of 
denunciation  by  the  Right,  who 
decried  it  as  revolutionary  and 
unconstitutional,  and  the  Presi- 
dent so  decided. 

After  M.  Jules  Favre  had  con- 
cluded, Granier  de  Cassagnac,  a 
member  of  the  Extreme  Right, 
rushed  to  the  tribune,  and  his 
first  words  were  to  denounce  the 
proposition  of  Favre  as  the  be- 
ginning of  revolution.  He  pro- 
ceeded in  a  strain  of  bitter  de- 
nunciation, amid  the  shouts,  vocif- 
erations and  the  gestures  of  almost  the  entire  Left. 
He  accused  them  of  hiding  behind  their  privileges  to 
destroy  the  government  of  the  Emperor,  who  was  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy.  Here  there  came  interruptions,  calls 
to  order  and  threats.  Thirty  members  of  the  Left  rose 
to  their  feet,  yelling  at  Cassagnac,  and  shaking  their  fists 
toward  him,  and  he  returned  the  compliment  by  shaking 
his  fist  at  them.  All  of  this  time,  the  members  of  the 
Right  were  applauding  Cassagnac,  who  finally  wound  up 
with  the  terrible  threat  that  if  he  were  a  minister  he 


Jules    Favre. 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  77 

would  send  the  members  of  the  Left  to  a  military  tribu- 
nal before  night.  That  was  followed  oy  one  of  the  most 
terrific  explosions  ever  witnessed  in  a  legislative  body. 
All  the  deputies  of  the  Left  jumped  to  their  feet  and 
raised  their  voices  in  most  indignant  protest.  And  then 
rose  up  the  deputies  of  the  Right  to  drown  the  cries  of 
the  Left  with  their  own  vociferations.  Jules  Simon,  who 
was  then  simply  a  deputy  from  Paris  and  who  has  since 
occupied  so  many  high  positions  in  France,  rushed  into 
the  area  in  front  of  the  tribune,  gesticulating  with 
vehemence  and  saying  that  if  they  dared  to  send  them 
to  a  council  of  war  they  were  ready  to  go,  and  if  they 
wanted  to  shoot  them  they  would  find  them  ready.  That 
added  to  the  tumult.  Nearly  all  the  members  were  on 
their  feet.  The  voice  of  Simon  was  heard  above  the 
din,  "If  you  want  violence,  you  shall  have  it."  At  that 
moment,  Estancelin  under  great  excitement  cried  out, 
"  The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  laughs."  And  that 
absurd  ejaculation  caused  many  others  to  laugh. 

Jules  Ferry,  since  President  of  the  Council  under  Pres- 
ident Grevy,  was  heard  in  the  uproar  to  say  that  it  was 
not  proper  "  for  a  minister  who  was  attempting  to  nego- 
tiate peace,  to  — ,"  and  here  his  voice  was  lost  in  the 
tumult.  Nearly  the  entire  Left  then  started  from  their 
seats  and  rushed  to  the  area  in  front  of  the  tribune  and 
up  to  the  seat  of  the  ministers  ;  Estancelin,  Ferry  and 
old  Garnier-Pages  in  front.  Estancelin  and  Ferry  were 
young  men  and  advanced  republicans.  Garnier-Pages 
was  an  old  time  republican,  at  that  time  nearly  seventy 
years  of  age,  and  had  for  a  long  time  been  a  prominent 
man  in  France,  a  republican  always,  but  considered  some- 
what conservative.  He  was  a  member  of  the  provisional 
government  of  1848,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Ministry  of 
Finance,  but  was  not  entirely  happy  in  his  administration 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


of  it.  At  this  time  he  was  a  man  of  striking  personal  ap- 
pearance. Tall  and  slim,  and  with  long  white  hair,  he  could 
not  otherwise  than  attract  attention  wherever  he  went.  As 
a  speaker  he  was  described  as  having  the  parole  chaleu- 
rcusc,  and  such  was  his  benevolent  and  exemplary  char- 
acter, that  he  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  all  men,  even  of  his 
adversaries.  After  the  revolution  of  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1870,  being  then  a  member  of  the  Corps  Legislatif 
of  Paris,  he  became  a  member  of  the  government  of  the 

National  Defence ;  and,  on 
the  3  ist  of  October,  when 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  was  in- 
vaded and  all  the  members 
of  the  government  made 
prisoners,  M.  Garnier-Pages 
was  very  badly  treated,  and 
even  beaten.  He  was  not 
elected  to  the  National  As- 
sembly on  the  8th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1871,  and  from  that 
time  he  was  in  private  life. 
He  had  a  country  place  at 
Cannes,  where  he  lived  the 
life  of  a  retired  gentleman. 

These  members  on  the  Left  shook  their  fists  directly 
in  the  face  of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the  Duke 
de  Gramont,  who  sat  fixed,  and  without  moving  a  muscle. 
Then  the  tumult  reached  its  height.  A  hundred  men 
were  screaming  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  and  the  Presi- 
dent rang  his  bell  furiously,  but  all  to  no  effect.  And 
then,  as  a  signal  that  he  had  lost  all  control  of  the  assem- 
bly, and  as  a  flag  of  distress,  he  covered  himself  by  put- 
ting on  his  hat.  The  huissiers  then  rushed  in  and  sepa- 
rated the  contending  parties,  and  some  minutes  after, 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  79 

comparative  quiet  was  restored.  The  debate  continued 
for  some  time,  and  amid  the  greatest  excitement.  Fi- 
nally, after  a  session  of  two  hours,  when  all  sides  seemed 
wearied  out  by  the  contest,  the  Chamber  took  a  recess 
until  five  o'clock.  Its  first  action  after  it  reassembled, 
was  a  proposition,  substantially  expressing  a  want  of 
confidence  in  the  ministry,  and  the  question  was  put  and 
fully  disposed  of  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  about 
it,  and  almost  in  the  "twinkling  of  an  eye"  the  ministers 
found  themselves  practically  out  of  office,  not  more  than 
a  dozen  members  rising  in  their  favor.  They  asked  leave 
to  retire  for  consultation,  and  in  a  few  minutes  brought 
in  their  resignations,  with  a  statement  that  the  Empress- 
Regent  had  directed  the  Count  de  Palikao  to  form  a  new 
ministry.  The  Chamber  then  adjourned  amid  intense 
excitement.  During  all  the  session  the  Palais  Bourbon, 
in  which  it  was  held,  was  surrounded  by  troops  of  the 
line  to  keep  back  the  crowd  that  had  assembled  on  the 
Pont  de  la  Concorde,  at  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and 
along  the  quays.  Leaving  the  Chamber,  I  had  occasion 
to  go  to  the  Foreign  Office.  I  found  the  gates  there  all 
closed  and  a  regiment  of  infantry  quartered  in  the  court. 

Count  de  Palikao  was  an  amiable  old  soldier,  who,  in 
his  time,  had  fought  well.  In  his  first  remarks  to  the 
Chamber  he  struck  his  breast  and  alluded  to  wounds  he 
had  received  in  the  cause  of  his  country.  In  this  new 
deal,  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne  was  brought 
back  to  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  some  of  the 
old  ministers  were  retained. 

There  soon  approached  a  very  serious  state  of  things  in 
regard  to  the  expelled  Germans.  While  I  was  charged 
with  the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Confederation,  Saxony,  Darmstadt,  Hesse,  my  col- 
league, Mr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  minister,  was  charged  with 


80  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  Bavaria  and  Baden, 
while  Mr.  Okouneff,  the  Russian  charge  d'affaires,  was 
charged  with  the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  Wiirtem- 
berg.  These  gentlemen  and  myself  concerted  to  see 
what  we  could  do  in  the  way  of  securing  from  the  French 
government  that  treatment  and  protection  (for  such  of 
those  subjects  of  the  belligerent  powers,  as  found  them- 
selves in  France  at  that  moment),  which  was  due  to  them 
under  such  circumstances.  A  great  many  threats  were 
made,  and  there  were  occasional  instances  of  violence, 
enough  to  inspire  great  terror  among  those  Germans, 
with  the  protection  of  whom  I  was  particularly  charged. 
They  came  in  great  crowds  to  the  legation,  and  in  all 
cases  where  they  were  pursued  by  threats  of  violence  I 
promised  them  the  protection  of  the  American  flag.  On 
the  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  Corps  Legislatif  (The  Fi- 
garo having  demanded  the  expulsion  of  the  Germans,  as  I 
have  related),  I  repaired  to  the  Palais  Bourbon  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  my  colleagues,  Messrs.  Kern  and  Okou- 
neff, and  to  determine  with  them  what  we  should  do.  We 
all  met  in  the  Diplomatic  Tribune,  but  before  we  left  we 
saw  the  ministry  displaced,  and  knew  that  everything 
would  necessarily  be  in  confusion.  Finding  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  see  any  member  of  the  government  that 
night,  we  postponed  action  until  the  next  morning.  I 
went  myself,  however,  to  the  Foreign  Office  and  saw 
Count  Faverney,  the  chief  of  the  bureau,  and  explained 
to  him  the  situation  of  things,  and  requested  that  the 
French  government  should  take  immediate  steps  to  se- 
cure protection  to  the  subjects  of  those  powers  whose  na- 
tionaux  had  been  placed  under  my  protection  with  the 
assent  of  the  government  of  Her  Majesty. 

The  French  government  did  not  wait  for  the  general 
order  for  the   expulsion   of  the    Germans  ;  but,  on   the 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  gl 

night  of  the  1 2th,  the  Duke  de  Gramont  sent  me  a  let- 
ter stating  that  on  account  of  a  compromising  corre- 
spondence, the  architect,  the  maltre  d1  hotel  and  the  two 
domestics,  supposed  to  mean  the  concierge  and  his  wife, 
in  charge  of  the  Prussian  embassy  would  be  immediately 
expelled  from  France.  It  was  then  that  I  wrote  the  fol- 
lowing letter : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
PARIS,  August  12,  1870. 

GENTLEMEN  :  The  maitre  (Fhdtel  of  the  Prussian  embassy  having 
been  ordered  out  of  France,  I  have  to  request  that  you  will  do  me  the 
favor  to  take  possession  of  and  occupy  the  said  embassy  till  further 
orders.  In  conjunction  with  the  concierge,  I  wish  to  confide  the  pro- 
tection of  the  property  to  you,  and  in  case  of  threatened  violence,  you 
Avill  display  the  American  flag. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 
JAMES  A.  and  JOHN  H.  McKEAN, 

Citizens  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  three  days  after,  that  I  wrote  to  a  friend  in  re- 
gard to  the  condition  of  the  Germans  :  "  Deprived  of  all 
labor,  without  money,  without  bread,  threatened  contin- 
ually, and  ordered  to  leave  France,  their  condition  is  de- 
plorable beyond  description.  Prussia  has  given  me  a 
large  credit  to  take  care  of  its  subjects.  *  *  *  The 
scenes  of  misery  that  I  am  witnessing  are  enough  to 
move  the  stoutest  heart." 

The  order  of  expulsion,  and  the  proclamation  of  Gen- 
eral Trochu,  produced  an  alarm  among  the  Germans  in 
Paris  which  amounted  really  to  a  panic.  None  among 
them  could  tell  what  was  going  to  happen  next,  and  all 
were  straining  their  nerves,  to  the  utmost,  in  order  to  get 
away.  But  as  none  could  leave  without  my  passport, 
they  flocked  to  the  legation  in  immense  numbers.  One 
morning  on  reaching  my  legation,  at  seven  o'clock,  I 

6 


82  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

found  it  surrounded  by  several  thousand  Germans  in  the 
streets  adjoining.  The  pressure  among  them  to  get  up 
the  two  flights  of  stairs  into  the  chamber  of  the  legation 
was  something  extraordinary,  and  I  found  myself  obliged 
to  procure  the  assistance  of  six  stalwart  policemen  to 
keep  them  back,  and  to  arrange  for  their  entrance  into 
the  legation  in  proper  order.  Excited  and  agitated  when 
they  entered,  it  was  painful  to  hear  their  different  stories, 
when  they  presented  the  evidence  of  their  nationality,  as 
they  were  required  to  do.  There  was  one  poor  woman 
so  excited  that  she  even  forgot  her  own  name. 

I  was  very  much  touched  by  one  incident  which  oc- 
curred. A  young  and  very  handsome  woman  represented 
that  she  was  a  native  of  Bremen  and  of  good  family,  and 
I  supposed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  having  produced  the 
evidence  of  her  nationality,  she  wanted  to  get  an  ordi- 
nary passport  to  enable  her  to  go  to  Bremen.  Trem- 
bling with  emotion,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  told 
me  there  were  reasons  why  she  could  not  return  to  her 
own  home.  She  had  a  child  two  years  old,  and  she  said 
she  would  die  before  she  would  separate  from  it,  but  she 
said  there  was  a  French  girl — a  friend  of  hers,  who  had 
invited  her  to  go  to  her  home  in  Brittany.  Though  I 
had  no  money  from  the  German  government  to  pay  to 
the  Germans,  except  to  leave  France  to  go  to  their  own 
country,  I  at  once  comprehended  the  situation,  and  told 
the  poor  girl  I  would  give  her  money  enough  to  pay  her 
expenses  to  Brittany  and  a  small  sum  in  addition.  Her 
tears  dried  up,  and  with  many  thanks  and  a  light  heart, 
she  left  the  legation. 

Soon  after  the  order  of  expulsion  had  been  made  by 
the  French  government,  I  addressed  an  official  despatch 
to  the  State  department  at  Washington  giving  a  full 
account  of  the  action  taken  by  myself,  Mr.  Kern,  the 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  83 

Swiss  minister,  and  Mr.  Okouneff,  Russian  charge  d'af- 
faires. In  my  despatch  I  called  attention  to  the  lan- 
guage which  M.  Chevreau,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  had 
used  in  the  Corps  Lcgislatif,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the 
measures  that  had  been  taken  to  expel  the  foreigners 
from  Paris.  On  August  i2th,  1870,  at  6:30  P.M.,  Mr. 
Kern,  Mr.  Okouneff  and  myself  had  an  interview  (which 
we  had  previously  arranged  for)  with  M.  Chevreau,  in 
regard  to  the  protection  of  the  Germans.  Between  the 
time  the  interview  was  arranged  with  M.  Chevreau  and 
the  time  it  actuilly  took  place,  the  subject  of  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Germans  from  Paris  had  been  up  in  the 
Corps  Legislatif. 

The  appointment  having  been  made  with  the  minister, 
we  called  upon  him  at  the  designated  hour  and  explained 
our  purposes.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  Ollivier  minis- 
try, M.  Chevreau  had  received  the  portfolio  of  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior.  He  had  been  the  Prefect  of  the 
Seine,  replacing  M.  Haussmann  on  the  5th  of  January, 
1870.  We  were  very  well  received  by  him,  and  he  lent  to 
us  an  attentive  ear.  I  had  previously  known  him  a  little 
socially,  when  he  was  Prefect  of  the  Seine,  having  dined 
with  him  once  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  M.  Chevreau  said 
that  when  he  came  into  office  he  found  that  the  preced- 
ing ministry  had,  in  view  of  the  circumstances  at  the  time, 
adopted  the  policy  of  refusing  to  allow  certain  Prussians 
to  leave  France,  and  had  made  certain  provisions  regu- 
lating their  residence.  The  circumstances,  however,  he 
said  had  changed,  and  he  found  himself  in  the  face  of 
regulations  which  had  no  longer  any  raison  d'etre. 
The  government  had,  therefore,  determined,  with  the 
view  both  of  relieving  itself  from  the  presence,  in  the 
heart  of  the  capital,  of  some  forty  thousand  Prussians, 
and  at  the  same  time,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  them 


84  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

from  the  excited  population  of  Paris,  to  order  them,  in 
the  most  humane  mode,  to  leave  the  country.  He  was 
urged  to  do  this,  he  said,  in  order  to  answer  the  interpel- 
lations of  the  Corps  Lcgislatif  and  the  general  expression 
of  public  opinion  as  found  in  the  journals  of  Paris.  Af- 
ter a  conversation  as  to  the  effect  of  such  action  on  the 
German  population  and  the  hardships  and  misery  which 
would  result  therefrom,  the  minister  said  he  was  pre- 
pared, in  every  way,  to  mitigate,  as  far  as  it  was  possible, 
the  harshness  of  the  order,  and  that  he  would  take  pleas- 
ure in  making  the  exceptions  as  numerous  as  possible, 
and  that  any  persons  who  could  be  recommended  by  re- 
spectable people  in  their  neighborhoods,  or  who  would 
be  indorsed  by  the  legations  of  Russia,  the  United 
States,  or  Switzerland,  he  would  cheerfully  allow  to  re- 
main unmolested.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  in  view  of  the 
excited  state  of  the  population  of  Paris,  he  advised  all 
who  could  do  so,  to  leave  immediately,  in  their  own  inter- 
est. He  said  that  he  would  endeavor  to  remove  all  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  their  departure  and  to  make  the 
formalities  as  few  as  possible.  At  my  own  suggestion 
he  promised  to  ascertain  from  the  Prefecture  of  Police 
whether  it  would  be  possible  to  dispense  with  the  police 
vise  of  that  office  on  the  passports  of  Germans  wishing  to 
leave,  and  that  in  concert  with  the  prefect,  he  would  de- 
vise some  expeditious  mode  by  which  the  Germans  could 
leave  France  on  a  simple  vise  of  the  different  legations 
charged  with  their  protection.  At  my  further  suggestion, 
he  promised  to  send  immediate  orders  to  the  French 
police  agents  on  the  frontier,  not  to  molest  the  Germans 
who  started  to  leave  the  country,  even  if  their  papers 
had  not  a  proper  vise.  I  then  told  the  minister  that  I 
had  received  very  recent  information  from  the  American 
consul  at  Rheims  of  the  ill-treatment  to  which  the  Ger- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  85 

man  residents  in  the  vicinity  had  been  subjected.  He 
gave  orders  that  the  prefect  should  be  immediately  tele- 
graphed to  consult  with  our  consul  there,  and  to  afford 
every  protection  possible,  and  also  to  authorize  him  to 
give  them  passes  to  leave  the  country.  In  conclusion, 
the  minister  said  he  would  be  glad  to  place  himself 
entirely  at  the  disposition  of  the  representatives  of  Rus- 
sia, the  United  States  and  Switzerland,  with  the  view  of 
aiding  them  in  removing  the  difficulties  which  he  under- 
stood must  surround  the  position  of  the  different  peo- 
ples under  their  protection.  The  interview  was  a  most 
agreeable  one,  and  we  were  well  pleased  with  the  result 
of  our  visit,  and  were  satisfied  that  M.  Chevreau  was 
disposed  to  do  everything  that  he  could,  to  aid  us  in  the 
difficult  positions  in  which  we  found  ourselves. 

Soon  after  this  meeting  with  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, I  sought  an  interview  with  the  Prince  de  La  Tour 
d'Auvergne  on  the  same  subject.  After  conversing  with 
him  in  relation  to  some  minor  matters,  I  told  the  Prince 
that  the  principal  object  for  which  I  had  sought  the  in- 
terview had  relation  to  the  position  I  was  in,  as  charged 
with  the  protection  of  the  subjects  of  several  of  the  pow- 
ers with  which  France  was  at  war.  I  stated  that  the 
sudden  determination  of  the  French  government  in  re- 
gard to  the  departure  of  the  Germans  from  France  had 
taken  me  by  surprise,  and  I  wanted  to  know  if  it  were 
not  possible  for  His  Majesty's  government  to  change  its 
determination  in  that  matter.  I  explained  to  him  the 
great  distress  and  hardship  it  inflicted  on  thousands  of 
peaceable,  innocent  and  inoffensive  men,  women,  and 
children  of  the  laboring  classes,  most  of  whom  were  very 
poor,  and  who  came  in  large  crowds  to  my  legation  seek- 
ing their  passes,  and  the  means  of  getting  out  of  France. 
In  reply,  he  said  that  on  his  way  from  Vienna  he  first 


86  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

heard  of  this  matter,  and  had  conceived  great  doubts  as 
to  the  propriety  of  the  measure,  and,  on  his  arrival  in 
Paris,  had  so  expressed  himself  to  the  Empress- Regent 
and  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  He  had,  however, 
yielded  his  first  impressions  upon  the  representations 
made  to  him  by  his  colleague,  the  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior ;  that  this  measure,  harsh  as  it  was,  was  dictated 
by  the  pressure  of  circumstances  ;  that  the  government 
could  not  without  great  concern  contemplate  the  fact 
of  such  a  vast  number  of  Prussians  (estimated  at  forty 
thousand)  residing  in  their  midst ;  that  their  apprehen- 
sions had  become  excited  by  the  manoeuvres  of  certain 
Prussians  whose  presence  in  Paris  was  dangerous  in  the 
highest  degree  ;  that  the  French  population  had  reached 
such  a  state  of  excitement  on  the  subject  of  the  residence 
of  so  many  Prussians  in  the  heart  of  the  capital,  that  it 
rendered  it  unsafe  for  the  latter,  and  placed  the  govern- 
ment under  the  obligation  of  requiring  their  departure 
for  their  own  sake,  as  a  measure  of  humanity  ;  that  the 
French  government  was  perfectly  willing  and  anxious  to 
mitigate  the  hardship  of  their  decree  by  making  any  ex- 
ceptions in  favor  of  persons  recommended  by  respectable 
citizens  in  their  neighborhood,  especially  in  favor  of  any 
persons  that  the  legation  of  the  United  States  might 
designate  as  worthy  of  their  protection.  I  remarked  to 
the  minister  in  reply  that  I  had  received  the  same  as- 
surance from  his  colleague,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
who  had  manifested  every  disposition  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  mitigate  the  severity  of  the  order.  I  told  him 
that  my  position  had  become  somewhat  embarrassing, 
and  that  the  difficulties,  so  far  from  diminishing,  were  on 
the  increase  ;  and  that  out  of  the  mass  of  the  Germans 
in  Paris,  under  my  protection,  it  was  impossible  for  me 
to  pass  upon  the  separate  cases  of  those  who  might  de- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  87 

sire  to  remain  ;  and  even  if  I  could  pass  on  them,  yet, 
by  reason  of  the  understanding  that  the  order  of  de- 
parture ,was  general,  many  unobjectionable  persons,  who 
would  have  been  desirous  of  remaining  in  Paris  and  fol- 
lowing their  ordinary  pursuits,  considered  themselves  as 
being  obliged  to  leave.  I  stated  to  him  further,  that,  in 
carrying  out  my  views  of  duty,  I  wished,  in  the  name  of 
humanity,  to  make  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  French  gov- 
ernment through  him  to  revoke  the  order,  if  it  should  be 
considered  possible  ;  and,  if  that  could  not  be  done,  to 
so  modify  it,  as  to  permit  the  larger  class  of  Germans  in 
Paris,  whose  conduct  could  give  no  possible  cause  of 
complaint  to  the  French  government,  to  remain. 

The  minister  then  called  my  attention  to  the  fact,  as 
he  stated,  that  the  order  of  expulsion  of  all  French  sub- 
jects from  Prussia  having  been  issued  by  the  Prussian 
government,  no  complaint  could,  strictly  speaking,  be 
made  here  against  the  French  order,  but,  that  out  of  con- 
sideration for  my  position,  he  was  willing  to  entertain 
the  subject.  At  the  same  time,  he  stated  that  the  French 
order  had  not  been  made  in  consequence  of  the  order  of 
the  Prussian  government  as  a  retaliatory  measure,  but 
for  the  reasons  he  had  already  suggested.  I  then  stated 
that  I  was  surprised  to  hear  him  remark  that  the  Prus- 
sian government  had  made  an  order  of  expulsion  against 
the  French  subjects,  and  was  hardly  prepared  to  credit 
it,  unless  he  had  positive  knowledge  that  such  was  the 
fact.  In  confirmation  of  my  belief,  I  stated  that  I  had 
read  a  telegraphic  despatch  purporting  to  be  an  extract 
from  a  Berlin  paper,  which,  referring  to  the  expulsion  of 
the  Germans  from  France,  expressly  declared  that  the 
French  subjects  would  not  be  expelled  from  Prussia,  but 
would  be  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Prussian 
government. 


88  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

In  reply  to  my  suggestions,  he  stated  that  he  had  no 
official  knowledge  of  a  Prussian  order  of  expulsion,  but 
that  he  understood  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  as  stat- 
ing it  to  be  a  fact,  which  he  had  taken  for  granted  in  his 
discussion  of  the  matter  with  him.  He  said,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  he  had  personal  knowledge  of  the  arrest 
and  imprisonment,  under  very  aggravating  circumstances, 
of  French  consular  agents  who  had  sought  his  protec- 
tion in  Vienna,  and  whose  cases  were  stamped  with  pe- 
culiar hardships.  In  concluding  the  conversation,  he  re- 
quested me  to  address  him  in  a  written  communication 
embodying  my  views  on  the  subject,  and  stated  that  he 
would  take  great  pleasure  in  using  his  influence  to  pro- 
cure them  a  favorable  reception,  with  the  view,  if  possi- 
ble, of  bringing  about  some  substantial  modification  of 
the  order. 

Subsequent  to  these  interviews  with  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the 
Corps  Legislatif  had  made  a  report  to  the  Chamber  rec- 
ommending the  expulsion,  without  exception  and  with- 
out reserve,  of  all  the  subjects  of  the  powers  at  war  with 
France.  In  view  of  that  action,  Mr.  Kern  and  myself 
sought  another  interview  on  the  subject  with  the  Minis- 
ter of  the  Interior.  He  said  he  was  aware  that  such  a 
report  had  been  made  to  the  Chamber,  but  that  the 
whole  matter  was  substantially  in  his  own  hands,  and  that 
there  would  be  no  aggravation  of  the  measures  which 
had  already  been  taken.  Both  Mr.  Kern  and  myself  then 
explained  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  the  situation  of 
matters,  as  then  existing,  so  far  as  regarded  the  people 
with  whose  protection  we  were  respectively  charged,  and 
the  affecting  cases  of  hardship  and  suffering  which  we 
were  continually  compelled  to  witness  at  our  legations. 
The  minister  replied  that  he  could  fully  appreciate  all 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  89 

that  was  said,  but  that  the  situation  was  the  result  of 
circumstances  which  could  not  be  controlled  ;  that  the 
hostility  of  the  people  of  Paris  towards  the  Prussians  had 
become  intense,  and  that  it  was  a  matter  of  the  safety  of 
those  people,  as  well  as  for  other  reasons,  that  they  should 
depart  as  fast  as  possible.  As  a  remote  possibility  the 
government  might  have  to  consider  the  effect  of  a  siege 
of  Paris,  and,  in  that  event,  the  city  would  be  defended 
to  the  last.  This  was  the  first  hint  that  I  had  heard  from 
any  official  source  that  the  city  might,  in  any  event,  be 
besieged.  He  said  that  he  foresaw  that  in  such  a  contin- 
gency, which  he  scarcely  thought  possible,  the  situation 
of  the  Prussians  in  Paris  would  be  deplorable  beyond 
description  ;  and  simply  as  a  measure  of  prudence,  he 
thought  they  ought  to  leave  at  a  time  when  they  were 
able  to  get  away,  and  reach  their  own  country.  He 
expressed  his  determination  to  do  everything  to  mod- 
erate the  hostility  of  the  Parisians  toward  the  Germans, 
and  to  have  them  protected  while  they  remained  in  the 
city.  He  also  reiterated  his  wish  to  do  everything  in 
his  power  to  facilitate  their  departure  and  to  alleviate, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  hardships  which  the  state  of  war 
had  produced  in  that  regard. 

Mr.  Kern  and  myself,  both,  explained  to  him  that  it 
was  impossible  to  make  separate  applications  for  those 
who  wanted  the  permission  of  the  government  to  remain 
in  Paris,  and  that,  when  people  came  to  ask  our  advice 
on  the  question,  who  represented  themselves  as  peace- 
able persons,  long  resident  in  Paris  and  engaged  in 
business  which  they  could  not  leave  without  great  sacri- 
fice, we  had  advised  them  to  remain,  quietly  attending 
to  their  affairs  and  giving  no  cause  of  complaint  to  the 
government,  until  they  should  have  special  notification 
to  leave,  when  they  should  apply  to  us.  The  minister 


9o 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


fully  assented  to  that  course  and  said  there  was  a  large 
class  of  that  description,  whom  the  government  had  no 
desire  to  drive  away.  After  my  interview  with  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior,  I  addressed  the  following  despatch 
to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Prince  de  La  Tour 
d'Auvergne. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  August  17,  1870. 

SIR  :  In  our  conversation  yesterday  you  did  me  the  honor  to  request 
that  I  might  put  in  writing  the  views  I  expressed  to  you,  verbally,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  departure  from  France  of  the  subjects  of  the  powers  now  at 
war  with  France. 

Having  been  charged  by  the  direction  of  my  own  government,  and 
with  the  consent  of  the  French  Government,  with  the  protection  of  the 
subjects  of  the  Confederation  of  the  North,  as  well  as  the  subjects  of 
Hesse,  Saxony,  and  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  in  France,  during  the  war 
now  existing  between  France  and  the  said  powers,  I  beg  leave  to  state 
that  before  any  official  action  had  been  taken  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment in  relation  to  the  departure  from  France  of  the  said  subjects, 
my  colleagues,  Mr.  Kern,  the  minister  of  Switzerland,  charged  with  the 
protection  of  the  subjects  of  Bavaria  and  Baden,  and  Mr.  Okouneff, 
the  Russian  charge'  d'affaires^  charged  with  the  protection  of  the  sub- 
jects of  Wiirtemberg,  and  myself,  arranged  an  interview  with  M.  Chev- 
reau,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  for  Friday  last,  the  i2th  instant,  with  a 
view  of  seeking  such  measures  of  protection  to  the  Germans  in  Paris 
as  the  situation  seemed  to  require  ;  but  that  before  that  interview 
took  place  I  learned  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Corps  Ltgislatif  on  that 
day,  and  of  the  declaration  of  M.  Chevreau  to  the  Chamber  that  "  De- 
puis  avant-hier  nous  prenons  toutes  les  mesures  pour  expulser  les  etran- 
gers  qui  sont  en  ce  moment  dans  la  capitale."  Therefore,  when  the  in- 
terview actually  occurred,  we  found  it  necessary  to  address  ourselves  to 
the  measure  of  expulsion  which  has  been  considered  by  the  Chamber. 
With  courtesy  and  frankness  M.  Chevreau  explained  to  us  the  position 
of  matters  touching  the  Germans  in  Paris.  After  stating  what  had  been 
done  and  the  reasons  which  had  influenced  the  government,  he  expressed 
every  desire  to  ameliorate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  severity  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  to  facilitate,  in  every  way,  the  departure  of  the  subjects  to 
whom  the  order  was  intended  to  apply.  But  after  the  official  action 
taken  on  this  subject  had  become  known,  Your  Excellency  will  not  be 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  91 

surprised  to  learn  of  the  alarm  and  excitement  it  produced  among  the 
people  whose  protection  had  devolved  upon  me.  Their  number  is  very 
large.  In  our  conversation  Your  Excellency  estimated  it  at  forty  thou- 
sand, other  people  have  placed  the  estimate  still  higher.  The  removal 
of  such  a  population  in  a  few  days,  even  with  all  ameliorations,  could 
not  fail  to  carry  with  it  an  incredible  amount  of  suffering  and  misery, 
involving,  as  it  must,  the  breaking  up  of  homes  and  the  sacrifice  and 
the  abandonment  of  property.  As  to  those  subjects  of  the  powers  at 
war  with  France  who  abuse  the  hospitality  of  the  country,  and  who  re- 
main in  it  to  become  spies,  to  plot  against  the  government,  to  stir  up 
sedition,  and  to  trouble  the  public  peace  generally,  all  men  will  be  in  ac- 
cord with  the  government  in  punishing  them  and  in  expelling  them  from 
French  territory.  But  their  number  must  be  small  as  compared  with 
the  whole  number  of  Germans  finding  themselves  now  in  Paris.  From 
my  observation,  the  great  number  seem  to  be  composed  (independently 
of  the  active  business  men  with  large  affairs)  of  honest,  industrious, 
laboring  men  and  women,  who  have  come  into  the  country  under  the 
sanction  of  public  faith,  relying  upon  the  hospitality  and  protection  of 
the  government.  They  are  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  daily  toil  for 
the  support  of  themselves  and  their  families,  taking  no  interest  in  polit- 
ical affairs  and  many  of  them  quite  ignorant  of  the  ordinary  passing 
events.  It  is  upon  this  class  of  people  that  the  action  of  the  govern- 
ment falls  with  peculiar  severity.  The  scenes  I  am  compelled  daily  to 
witness  are  afflicting.  My  legation  and  the  surrounding  streets  are  filled 
every  day  with  crowds  of  these  people,  who  come  to  procure  their  passes 
and  to  beg  some  aid  (which  I  had  been  authorized  to  extend  in  certain 
cases)  to  enable  them  to  conform  to  what  they  understand  to  be  the  direc- 
tion of  the  government  and  to  leave  the  country.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, therefore,  I  feel  that  I  should  fail  to  discharge  the  full  measure 
of  the  duty  devolving  upon  me  in  this  regard,  and  that  I  should  be  for- 
getful of  the  obligations  of  humanity  did  I  not  make  the  strongest  appeal 
to  the  government  of  His  Majesty,  through  Your  Excellency,  to  further 
consider  this  question,  and  to  ask  that  if  it  be  not  possible  to  suspend 
action  altogether,  that  there  may  be  at  least  some  modification  of  the 
measures  already  taken  so  as  to  permit  such  subjects  of  the  belligerent 
powers  as  are  under  my  protection,  who  are  now  in  France,  to  remain 
in  the  country  so  long  as  their  conduct  shall  give  no  cause  of  complaint, 
and  further  to  ask  for  them  that  protection  which  the  law  of  nations  ac- 
cords to  unarmed  enemies.  In  making  this  appeal  I  but  obey  the  wishes 
of  my  government,  which  has  instructed  me  to  do  everything  which 
is  consistent  with  the  position  of  my  country  as  a  neutral,  and  with 


92  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

the  law  of  nations,  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  things  now  existing  as 
regards  these  people  with  whose  protection  I  have  been  charged. 

In  closing  this  communication,  I  beg  leave  to  thank  Your  Excellency 
for  the  clear  and  courteous  manner  in  which  you  were  pleased  to  ex- 
plain the  views  of  His  Majesty's  government  on  the  subject  of  our  in- 
terview^ and  for  the  disposition  manifested  by  Your  Excellency  to  soften, 
in  that  respect,  as  far  as  might  be  in  your  power,  the  hardships  which  a 
state  of  war  might  impose. 

I  take  this  occasion  to  renew  to  Your  Excellency  the  assurances  with 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  remain  Your  Excellency's  very  obedient  ser- 
vant, 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

PRINCE  DE  LA  TOUR  D'AUVERGNE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  decree  of  General  Trochu,  Governor  of  Paris,  of 
August  28th,  having  been  issued  and  having  occasioned 
the  most  intense  excitement  among  all  the  foreigners,  I 
sent  the  following  despatch  to  the  Washington  govern- 
ment : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
PARIS,  August  29,  1870.     (Received  September  14.) 

SIR  :  The  decree  of  General  Trochu,  governor  of  Paris,  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  send  herewith,  marked  i,  appeared  this  morning  in 
the  official  journal,  and  was  placarded  over  the  city  last  night.  Being 
so  sweeping  in  its  terms  and  so  emphatic  in  its  declarations,  it  of  course 
created  a  very  great  degree  of  excitement  among  the  large  number  of 
Germans  yet  remaining  in  Paris.  The  legation  was  besieged  at  an  early 
hour  by  a  large  crowd  of  Germans,  and  although  I  had  employed  as 
many  men  as  could  work,  yet  the  number  was  nearly  as  great  at  night 
as  it  was  in  the  morning.  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  call  and  address  myself 
to  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne  in  regard  to  both  articles  of  the 
decree  ;  the  first  in  regard  to  the  very  limited  time  allowed  for  depart- 
ure, and  the  second  in  relation  to  the  application  for  the  special  per- 
mission for  st'jour  in  Paris.  In  this  matter  I  should  state  that  I  acted 
in  concert  with  Mr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  minister,  protecting  the  Bavarians 
and  the  Badois,  a  diplomat  of  wisdom,  experience,  and  energy.  We 
saw  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  separately,  who  explained  mat- 
ters to  each  of  us  in  the  same  way,  but  referring  us  to  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  who  was  more  particularly  charged  with  the  subject.  Ac- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


93 


cordingly  Mr.  Kern  and  myself  called  on  Mr.  Chevreau  at  seven  o'clock 
this  evening.  In  the  first  place  we  called  his  attention  to  the  short 
time  allowed  to  the  Germans  to  leave  Paris,  and  that  even  if  they  were 
ready  to  go,  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  furnish  them  with 
the  requisite  papers.  In  reply,  Mr.  Chevreau  said  that  although  three 
days  was  the  time  named  in  the  proclamation,  yet  no  advantage  would 
be  taken  of  those  who  were  unable  to  get  away  within  that  time. 

In  the  second  place,  in  regard  to  the  permission  to  be  obtained  for  a 
sojourn  in  Paris,  we  explained  to  him  that  we  could  not,  in  our  diplo- 
matic capacity,  make  any  application  whatever  to  General  Trochu, 
and  that  our  dealings  must  be  with  the  civil  authorities  ;  that  if  the 
terms  of  the  proclamation  were  to  be  adhered  to,  we  should  be  power- 
less to  render  any  aid  to  the  parties  with  whose  protection  we  had  been 
charged.  I  explained  particularly  to  Mr.  Chevreau  the  very  large  num- 
ber of  Germans  under  my  protection  who  had  lived  for  a  long  series  of 
years  in  Paris,  and  had  vast  interests  at  stake  ;  that  many  of  those  per- 
sons were  connected  in  business  with  American  citizens,  and  to  compel 
them  all  to  leave  would  be  an  incredible  hardship,  and  would  entail 
immense  sacrifices.  The  minister  replied  very  promptly  that  that  ques- 
tion had  been  just  considered  by  the  government,  and  that  our  applica- 
tions could  be  addressed  to  the  prefect  of  the  police,  who  had  been 
charged  specially  with  the  whole  business.  He  told  us  to  make  appli- 
cations for  whomever  we  pleased,  and  that  they  would  be  considered 
without  any  delay,  and  that  whenever  we  submitted  an  application  of 
any  party  for  permission  to  remain  in  Paris  we  might  consider  it  as 
granted  unless  we  had  special  notice  of  its  rejection. 

I  have  the  honor  to  send  you  further  a  notice  which  appears  in  this 
morning's  Journal  Officiel,  and  marked  2.  It  is  an  invitation  to  all 
persons  in  Paris  who  are  not  in  a  condition  "  de  faire  face  a  Fennemi" 
to  leave  Paris.  In  my  interview  to-day  with  the  Prince  de  La  Tour 
d'Auvergne  I  asked  him  about  this  notice.  He  replied  that  while  it 
was  not  to  be  construed  as  an  order  which  would  oblige  Americans  to 
leave,  yet  under  existing  circumstances  he  thought  it  would  be  well  for 
me  to  recommend  my  countrymen  to  get  away  as  soon  as  they  could,  in 
their  own  interests.  Everything  shows  that  the  French  Government 
looks  upon  a  siege  of  Paris  as  probable,  for  it  is  making  the  most  stu- 
pendous preparation  in  that  direction.  I  have  telegraphed  you  to  that 
effect  to-day  in  cipher,  and  also,  looking  to  possibilities,  I  suggested 
whether  you  should  not  ask  the  Prussian  Government  to  protect  Ameri- 
can property  in  Paris,  in  the  event  its  army  reached  here.  I  need  not 
tell  you  there  is  a  very  large  amount  of  property  owned  by  Americans 


94 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


in  Paris,  and  I  hope  it  will  be  respected  by  both  sides  as  property  of 
neutrals. 

I  have,  etc., 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

This  decree  of  General  Trochu  really  embraced  all 
foreigners  ;  but,  in  an  interview  with  the  Prince  de  La 
Tour  d'Auvergne,  he  said  it  would  not  be  construed  as 
an  order  which  would  oblige  the  Americans  to  leave 
Paris  ;  though,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  it  would 

be  well  for  me  to 
recommend  my 
countrymen  to  get 
away  as  soon  as 
they  could,  in  their 
own  interest.  The 
German  Americans 
in  France  were  par- 
ticularly alarmed  at 
this  time.  Three 
American  citizens 
of  that  category  liv- 
ing at  Dieppe,  wrote 
to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject, on  August 
2Qth,  desiring  to 


General    Trochu. 


know  if  their  natu- 
ralization papers  would  protect  them  in  France  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  they  found  themselves.  I  im- 
mediately answered  them  that  the  order  of  General 
Trochu  did  not  include  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  German  birth,  that  such  persons  were  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  all  proper  protection  would 
be  extended  to  them  under  all  circumstances  and  at  all 
hazards.  Although  the  Americans  in  Paris  had  been 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  95 

quite  uneasy  from  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the 
war,  yet  it  was  not  until  the  issuing  of  Trochu's  procla- 
mation that  they  began  to  realize  the  importance  of  leav- 
ing the  city.  They,  therefore,  flocked  in  crowds  to  the 
legation  to  obtain  passports  which  would  enable  them  to 
claim  American  protection.  Never  were  American  pass- 
ports in  greater  demand  than  on  this  occasion.  Many 
persons  who  only  had  a  questionable  right,  came  to  claim 
them.  I  was  advised  that  General  Dix,  my  distinguished 
predecessor,  had  sometimes  given  a  qualified  passport  to 
foreigners  who  exhibited  to  him  only  evidence  that  they 
had  declared  their  intention  of  becoming  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  In  examining  the  question  for  myself, 
however,  I  could  not  find  anything,  either  in  the  law  or 
in  the  instructions  of  the  State  department,  that  would 
warrant  issuing  a  passport  to  any  other  than  a  full  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States.  I  therefore  addressed  the 
Secretary  of  State  in  respect  to  the  matter,  and  asked  his 
opinion  in  the  premises.  I  duly  received  an  answer, 
which  was  in  accord  with  the  views  I  had  expressed  to 
him.  After  that,  I  permitted  no  passport  to  be  issued 
except  to  a  full  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

It  might  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  state,  that  what  I 
had  done  for  the  Germans,  as  their  protector  in  Paris 
and  France,  was  fully  appreciated  by  the  German  gov- 
ernment. On  the  8th  of  September,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  von  Thile,  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  at 
Berlin,  who,  in  writing  to  me  touching  another  matter, 
was  kind  enough  to  say,  "  As  to  myself,  there  only  re- 
mains the  very  agreeable  duty  of  expressing  to  you  the 
lively  sense  of  gratitude  I  feel  for  the  kind  manner  in 
which  you  have  charged  yourself  with  the  interests  of 
the  subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation,  and 
the  special  care  with  which  you  have  protected  them." 


96  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS,      . 

On  September  2,  1870,  I  wrote  to  my  government 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  German  population  had  left 
the  city  ;  that  I  had  visced  and  given  safe-conducts  for 
nearly  thirty  thousand  persons,  subjects  of  the  North 
German  Confederation,  who  had  been  expelled  from 
France  ;  that  I  had  given  railroad  tickets  to  the  Prussian 
frontier  for  eight  thousand  of  those  people,  as  well  as 
small  amounts  of  money  to  a  less  number.  From  the 
statement  of  that  fact,  the  amount  of  labor  could  be  esti- 
mated that  had  been  performed  in  the  legation  during 
the  few  previous  weeks.  My  time  was  then  a  good  deal 
occupied  in  looking  up  Germans  who  had  been  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison.  Those  arrests  were  generally 
arbitrary,  and  made  without  cause  ;  but,  it  is  proper  to 
say  that,  when  any  one  of  these  could  get  word  to  me  of 
his  imprisonment,  I  never  failed,  in  a  single  instance,  in 
getting  the  party  promptly  released. 


From  the  time  of  the  actual  breaking  out  of  the  war, 
incidents,  more  or  less  important,  were  continually  aris- 
ing. One  of  the  most  important  was  in  relation  to  the 
violation  of  flags  of  truce.  On  August  23d,  Mr.  Motley, 
our  Minister  in  London,  at  the  request  of  Count  Berns- 
torff,  the  German  Ambassador  to  London,  sent  me  the 
following  cipher  despatch  : 

Please  say  to  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Washburne,  in  Paris  :  A 
man  carrying  a  flag  of  truce,  who  arrived  at  the  French  outposts,  accom- 
panied by  the  ordinary  trumpeter,  in  order  to  invite  a  proposal  from  sur- 
geons in  the  interest  of  the  French  wounded,  was  fired  on,  on  the  igth 
instant,  by  all  the  French  advance  guards  he  met,  so  that  he  was  obliged 
to  return,  after  his  trumpeter  had  been  severely  wounded.  We  protest 
against  this  breach  of  the  international  law,  and  will  hold  France  respon- 
sible for  the  fate  of  the  French  wounded,  for  whom  our  medical  help 
proves  insufficient.  Count  Bismarck  says  to  Count  Bernstorff  :  "  I  re- 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 


97 


quest  you  to  say  further  to  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Washburne,  at 
Paris,  that,  according  to  the  experience  we  have  hitherto  had,  the  medi- 
cal staff  of  the  imperial  French  troops  does  not  wear  the  badge  provided 
by  the  convention  of  Geneva,  and  that  those  badges,  when  worn  by  our 
medical  men,  are  not  respected  by  the  French  troops,  so  that  constantly, 
at  the  places  for  bandaging,  the  surgeons  and  wounded  are  shot  at.  As 
the  manner  in  which  our  men  carrying  flags  of  truce  are  treated,  con- 
trary to  international  law,  prevents  us  from  sending  our  complaints  in 
the  direct  way,  we  have  no  other  means  than  to  request,  herewith,  the 
American  minister  to  state  at  Paris  our  formal  protest  against  a  breach 
of  that  international  convention." 

As  soon  as  I  could  decipher  the  despatch  I  took  a  copy 
of  it,  in  person,  to  the  Foreign  Office.  But  the  minister 
being  absent,  I  delivered  it  to  his  Chief  of  Cabinet.  The 
Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne,  however,  gave  the  sub- 
ject immediate  attention,  and  addressed  to  me  the  follow- 
ing letter  : 

[Translation.] 

PARIS,  August  23,  1870. 

SIR  :  You  have  been  kind  enough  to  hand  me,  under  to-day's  date, 
copy  of  a  telegram  which  has  been  addressed  to  you  by  Mr.  Motley,  at 
the  request  of  Count  Bernstorff,  representative  of  the  North  German 
Confederation  at  London,  which  has  for  its  object  to  bring  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  government  of  the  Emperor  the  reclamations  of  Count 
Bismarck  against  the  treatment  on  the  part  of  our  troops  which  may 
have  been  inflicted  on  flags  of  truce,  ambulances,  surgeons,  and 
wounded. 

The  statements  made  in  this  telegram  are  too  contrary  to  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  French  army  to  make  it  possible  for  me  to  accept  them  as 
exact.  I  have  this  day  made  them  known  to  the  Minister  of  War,  and 
will  hasten  to  communicate  to  you  the  explanations  which  he  will  not 
fail  to  give  me,  and  which  will,  I  doubt  not,  reduce  to  their  just  value 
the  protestations  of  the  Prussian  Government. 

Receive,  sir,  the  assurances  of  the  high  consideration  with  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

PRINCE  DE  LA  TOUR  D'AUVERGNE. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  United  States  Minister  at  Paris. 
7 


98  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS. 

This  correspondence  was  carried  still  further.  Having 
received  from  Count  Bernstorff  another  despatch  from 
Count  Bismarck,  I  addressed  the  following  note  verbale 
to  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne  : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  August  28,  1870. 

Mr.  Washburne,  Minister  of  the  United  States,  presents  his  respectful 
compliments  to  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne,  and  begs  leave  to 
enclose  him  herewith  copies  of  two  despatches  which  have  just  been 
transmitted  to  him  by  Mr.  Motley,  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  at 
London,  and  which  explain  themselves. 


Count  Bismarck  to  Count  Bernstorff. 

Palikao  declares  in  the  Corps  Ltgislatif  that  franc-tireurs  must  be 
considered  as  soldiers.  I  beg  you  will  communicate  the  following  to 
Mr.  Washburne  : 

Only  persons  recognizable  as  soldiers  at  rifle-range  can  be  considered 
and  treated  as  such.  Blue  blouse  is  general  national  costume  ;  the  red 
cross  on  the  arm  is  only  to  be  discerned  at  a  short  distance,  and  can  at 
every  moment  be  removed  and  replaced  ;  so  that  it  becomes  impossible 
for  our  troops  to  know  the  persons  from  whom  they  may  expect  hostili- 
ties and  at  whom  they  have  to  shoot.  If  persons  who  are  not  always, 
and  at  the  necessary  distance,  recognizable  as  soldiers,  kill  or  wound 
German  soldiers,  we  can  only  have  them  tried  by  a  court-martial. 

Please  announce  once  more  to  Mr.  Washburne  that  Captain  Rochous, 
who  was  sent  by  General  Alvensleben  to  Toul  with  a  flag  of  truce,  has 
been  repulsed  by  successive  shots,  and  that  a  trumpeter  accompanying, 
yesterday,  another  flag  of  truce  to  Verdun  has  been  killed.  We  protest 
solemnly  against  these  repeated  violations  of  international  law,  and  de- 
clare that  we  shall  be  henceforth  in  the  impossibility  of  sending  flags  of 
truce  to  the  French  army. 


LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

PARIS,  September  i,  1870. 

Mr.  Washburne,  Minister  of  the  United  States,  presents  his  respectful 
compliments  to  His  Excellency  the  Prince  de  La  Tour  d'Auvergne, 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  begs  to  enclose  him  a  despatch,  which 
he  has  just  received  from  Mr.  Motley,  the  Minister  of  the  United  States 
in  London,  and  which  explains  itself. 


THE  FIRST  FRENCH  DEFEATS.  99 

CLERMONT,  August  29,  1870. 

Will  you  kindly  let  the  following  be  known  to  Mr.  Washburne,  which 
only  now  comes  to  my  knowledge. 

On  the  1 5th  instant  General  von  Bothmer  sent  Captain  Hanfstangl 
with  a  flag  of  truce  t6  the  commandant  of  the  Fortress  Mucal.  The 
surrender  of  the  fortress  was  refused.  Before  the  captain  was  out  of 
shot's  range  he  was  shot  at  from  the  fortress,  and  was  severely  wounded. 
This  is  the  fourth  case  of  breach  of  international  law  coming  to  our 
knowledge. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    PROCLAMATION    OF    THE    REPUBLIC. 

A  Night  Session  of  the  Corps  Le"gislatif—  The  Bonaparte  Dynasty  Declared 
Fallen — Plans  for  a  Government  of  National  Defence — Uprising  of  the 
People — Gambetta  Proclaims  the  Republic  of  France — Flight  of  the  Em- 
press—Judge Erskine's  Recollections — Recognition  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment by  the  United  States  Minister. 

IT  was  evident,  during  the  very  first  days  of  Septem- 
ber, that  matters  in  Paris  were  drifting  to  a  crisis.  It 
was  a  strange  and  indefinable  feeling  that  existed  among 
the  population  of  Paris  on  Saturday,  September  3d. 
Everybody  was  groping  in  the  dark  for  news  of  mili- 
tary operations.  The  people  alarmed,  discouraged,  mad- 
dened, at  all  the  disasters  which  had  fallen  upon  their 
arms,  were  preparing  for  great  events.  I  went  down  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  at  the  Palais  Bourbon  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  On  leaving  the  Chamber,  a 
diplomatic  colleague  whispered  tremblingly  in  my  ear 
that  all  was  lost  to  the  French,  that  the  whole  army  had 
been  captured  at  Sedan,  and  that  the  Emperor  had  been 
taken  prisoner.  A  session  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
was  called  to  meet  at  midnight.  The  startling  news  had 
fallen  like  a  thunderbolt  over  all  Paris.  The  Boulevards 
were  thronged  by  masses  of  excited  men,  filled  with  rage 
and  indignation.  The  police  authorities  strove  in  vain 
to  disperse  them. 

The  ministry  had  issued  a  proclamation  which  recog- 
nized the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  which  was  brought 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         ioi 

by  my  secretary  of  legation,  Colonel  Hoffman,  to  my  resi- 
dence at  midnight.  I  at  once  foresaw  that  stupendous 
events  were  on  the  verge  of  accomplishment.  The  news 
of  the  full  extent  of  the  catastrophe  which  befell  the  army 
of  MacMahon  was  not  made  public  in  Paris  until  about 
midnight  on  Saturday,  September  3d,  though  Palikao 
had^  in  the  evening  session  of  the  Chamber,  given  out 
enough  news  to  prepare  the  people  for  almost  anything. 
That  Saturday  night  session  of  the  Corps  Legislate f  was 
represented  as  having  been  solemn  and  agitated.  The 
hour  designated  for  its  meeting  was  at  midnight,  but  the 
President  did  .not  take  his  chair  until  one  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning.  M.  Schneider,  the  President,  came 
into  the  Chamber  without  the  beating  of  the  drum  which 
ordinarily  announced  his  entry.  The  silence  was  death- 
like ;  but  few  of  the  deputies  of  the  Right  were  in  their 
seats,  though  the  members  of  the  Left  were  almost  all 
present.  Count  de  Palikao,  the  Minister  of  War,  took 
the  floor  and  said  that  in  the  presence  of  the  serious 
news  which  had  been  received,  he  deemed  it  better  not 
to  take  any  action  at  that  time,  but  to  postpone  every- 
thing until  twelve  o'clock  of  that  day.  After  Palikao 
had  made  this  suggestion,  M.  Jules  Favre  arose  and  said 
that  he  should  not  propose  any  serious  opposition  to 
that  motion,  but  he  asked  leave  to  give  notice  of  a  prop- 
osition which  he  had  to  submit,  and  which  he  would 
discuss  at  the  meeting  at  twelve  o'clock  (on  Sunday). 
The  proposition  which  he  read  was  as  follows : 

1.  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and   his  dynasty  are  declared  fallen 
from  the  powers  which  the  constitution  has  confided  to  them. 

2.  There   shall   be   named   by  the   legislative   body   a    commission 

vested  with    powers  and  composed  of members,  and  you  will 

designate   yourself  the   number  of  members  who   shall    compose  this 
commission,  who  will  make  it  their  first  duty  to  repel  the  invasion  and 
drive  the  enemy  from  the  territory. 


102         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

3.  M.  Trochu  shall  be  maintained  in  his  functions  of  governor- gene- 
ral of  the  City  of  Paris. 

There  was  no  discussion  whatever  on  these  proposi- 
tions, and  after  a  very  brief  session  of  ten  minutes  the 
Chamber  adjourned. 

It  was  easy  to  foresee  that  the  sitting  of  the  Corps 
Lcgislatif  on  Sunday  was  likely  to  become  historic.  I 
went  early  to  the  hall  of  the  Corps  Legislatif.  When  I 
arrived  there  I  found  a  few  troops  stationed  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  there  was  not  a  large  number  of  people  in 
the  immediate  vicinity.  Indeed,  I  was  quite  surprised  at 
the  tranquillity  which  seemed  everywhere  to  reign  in  the 
quarter  of  the  Palais  Bourbon,  which  is  the  name  of  the 
building  occupied  by  the  Corps  Legislatif.  Taking  my 
seat  in  the  diplomatic  tribune,  at  a  quarter  before  twelve, 
there  was  not  a  single  person  in  the  hall  of  the  deputies, 
though  the  galleries  were  all  well  filled.  Instead  of  the 
session  opening  at  noon,  it  was  precisely  one  o'clock 
when  M.  Schneider  entered  and  took  the  chair  of  the 
President.  The  deputies  then  came  rapidly  into  the  hall. 
Count  de  Palikao  was  the  first  of  the  ministers  to  come 
in,  and  he  was  soon  followed  by  the  Prince  de  La  Tour 
d'Auvergne  and  MM.  Chevreau  and  Brame.  Soon  after, 
all  the  other  ministers  took  their  places  on  the  ministe- 
rial benches.  The  members  of  the  Left  came  in  almost 
simultaneously,  Gambetta  hurrying  along  among  the  first, 
haggard  with  excitement.  The  venerable  Raspail  took 
his  seat ;  Garnier-Pages  hurried  across  the  area  in  front 
of  the  President's  chair,  in  a  state  of  intense  agitation. 
Arago,  Simon,  Picard,  Ferry,  Estancelin,  Guyot-Mont- 
payroux  entered  and  took  their  seats.  Thiers,  the  little, 
brisk  and  vigorous  old  man,  walked  quietly  to  his  place. 
The  President  sat  in  his  chair  quietly,  and  seemed  in  no 
hurry  to  call  the  Chamber  to  order.  The  members  be- 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


103 


came  impatient  and  clamorous.  There  was  loud  talk  and 
violent  gesticulation.  At  precisely  twenty  minutes  after 
one  o'clock,  M.  Schneider  swung  his  bell,  and  the  gruff 
voice  of  the  huissier  was  heard  above  the  din,  "  Silence, 
messieurs  /  sil  vous  plait."  After  some  unimportant 
proceedings  the  floor  was  assigned  to  Count  de  Palikao, 
the  Minister  of  War,  who,  in  behalf  of  the  Council  of 
Ministers,  submitted  the  following: 

ART.  i.  A  council  of  government  and  of  National  Defence  is  in- 
stituted. This  council  is  composed  of  five  members.  Each  member 
of  this  council  is  named  by  the  absolute  majority  of  the  Corps  Ldgislatif. 

2.  The  ministers  are  named  under  the  countersign  of  the  members 
of  this  council. 

3.  The  General  Count  de  Palikao  is  named  lieutenant-general  of  this 
council. 

Done  in  a  council  of  ministers  the  4th  of  September,  1870. 
For  the  Emperor,  and  in  virtue  of  the  powers  which  he  has  con- 
fided to  us. 

EUGENIE. 

After  that  project  had  been  read,  M.  Thiers  arose  and 
submitted  another  proposition  which  was  as  follows  : 

Considering  the  circumstances,  the  Chamber  names  a  commission  of 
government  and  National  Defence.  A  Constituent  Assembly  will  be 
convoked  as  soon  as  the  circumstances  will  allow. 

The  proposition  of  Favre  being  already  before  the 
Chamber,  "  urgency "  was  voted  on  these  three  proposi- 
tions, and  they  were  sent  to  a  committee  for  examination, 
under  the  rules  of  the  Chamber.  This  voting  of  urgency, 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  Chamber,  brings  the  matter 
before  it  for  immediate  consideration.  At  one  o'clock 
and  forty  minutes  in  the  afternoon,  the  sitting  was  sus- 
pended to  await  the  report  of  the  committee  to  which 
these  three  propositions  had  been  submitted,  and  then 


104        THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

all  the  members  left  the  hall,  going  into  a  large  lobby- 
room,  called  la  salle  des  pas  perdus. 

As  it  was  supposed  that  the  sitting  would  not  be  re- 
sumed for  an  hour  or  more,  I  left  the  diplomatic  gallery 
and  descended  into  the  court  of  the  building  facing  upon 
the  street  which  runs  parallel  with  the  Seine.  There  I 
found  a  great  many  people  who  had  been  admitted  by 
virtue  of  tickets.  The  street  in  front  of  the  building  had 
been  kept  quite  clear  by  the  military,  though  there  was 
an  enormous  multitude  of  the  National  Guard  and  the 
people  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river.  The  Pont  de  la  Concorde  seemed  to  be 
sufficiently  guarded  by  the  military  to  prevent  their  cross- 
ing over.  All  at  once  I  saw  quite  a  number  of  people  on 
the  steps  of  the  Palais  Bourbon,  and  soon  they  com- 
menced to  raise  loud  cries  of  "  Vive  la  Republique!  "  "De- 
cheance!  "  "  Vive  la  France  !  " 

At  this  moment  I  was  called  away  by  the  messenger  of 
the  legation,  who  brought  me  an  urgent  message  from 
Madame  MacMahon,  who  wanted  a  safe-conduct  from  me 
to  enable  her  to  pass  the  Prussian  lines  to  visit  her 
wounded  husband  at  Sedan.  I  had  asked  my  friend,  the 
Honorable  George  Eustis,  Jr.,  of  Louisiana,  who  was  a 
perfect  master  of  the  French  language,  to  accompany  me 
to  the  Corps  Li'gislatif,  and  he  was  with  me  at  the  time 
my  messenger  came  in  to  get  this  laissez-passer  for  Ma- 
dame MacMahon.  Leaving  the  diplomatic  tribune,  we 
went  into  an  antechamber,  where  I  could  find  writing- 
materials,  to  prepare  the  document  which  was  sought  for. 
I  had  no  sooner  sat  myself  down  to  the  table  than  the 
cry  was  raised  that  the  people  had  invaded  the  building. 
It  seemed  but  a  moment  before  the  flood  was  rushing  in, 
even  into  the  antechamber  where  Mr.  Eustis  and  myself 
were.  The  crowd  and  confusion  were  so  great  that  I 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         105 

found  it  impossible  to  prepare  the  requisite  paper,  so  we 
made  our  way  into  the  court-yard.  There  was  presented 
a  most  extraordinary  spectacle.  A  part  of  the  regiment 
of  the  line  had  been  brought  hurriedly  into  the  yard,  and 
had  formed  across  it,  and  were  loading  their  muskets. 
Behind  them,  and  in  the  street,  and  rushing  through  the 
gates  and  up  the  front  steps  of  the  building,  was  a  vast 
mass  of  excited  people  and  the  National  Guard,  who  had 
fraternized — the  guards  having  their  muskets  butt-end 
upward  as  a  token  of  friendship.  It  was  evident  that 
there  had  been  collusion  between  the  people  who  were 
on  the  steps  of  the  Palais  Bourbon,  and  the  people  and 
the  National  Guard  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  for  it  was  upon  the  signal  of  the 
people  on  the  steps,  that  the  guard  and  the  people  broke 
through  the  military  force  that  was  holding  the  bridge. 
As  the  crowd  mounted  the  steps  of  the  Palais  Bourbon, 
it  was  received  with  terrific  cheers  and  shouts  of  "  Vive  la 
Republique  !  "  and  "  Decheance  /  " 

Making  our  way  into  the  street,  Mr.  Eustis  and  my- 
self managed  to  pass  through  the  crowd  and  to  reach  the 
building  of  the  Agricultural  Club,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, and  from  the  balcony  of  which  we  could  see  all 
that  was  going  on.  And  now  the  soldiers  of  the  guard, 
many  of  them  with  their  hats  on  the  ends  of  their  muskets, 
accompanied  by  an  indiscriminate  mass  of  men,  women 
and  children,  poured  over  the  Pont  de  la  Concorde  and 
filled  the  entire  space,  all  in  one  grand  fraternization,  sing- 
ing the  Marseillaise  and  shouting  "Vive  la  Republique !  " 
The  Municipal  Guard,  with  its  shining  helmets  and  brill- 
iant uniform,  was  forced  back,  inch  by  inch,  before  the 
people,  until,  finally,  all  military  authority  became  utterly 
powerless.  During  this  time  the  National  Guard  and  the 
people  had  invaded  the  Hall  of  the  Deputies,  which  they 


106        THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

found  vacant.  M.  Schneider  and  about  a  dozen  of  the 
members  rushed  in.  The  President  in  vain  made  appeals 
for  order,  and  finally  covered  himself  by  putting  on  his 
hat,  according  to  the  immemorable  usage  of  the  French 
assemblies  under  such  circumstances.  Gambetta  ad- 
dressed a  few  energetic  words  to  the  invaders,  and,  a 
little  order  being  restored,  quite  a  number  of  deputies 
entered  the  hall.  But,  at  three  o'clock,  a  grand  irrup- 
tion into  the  Chamber  took  place.  M.  Jules  Favre  then 
ascended  the  tribune  and  was  listened  to  for  a  moment. 
"  Let  there  be  no  scenes  of  violence,"  he  said,  "  let  us  re- 
serve our  arms  for  the  enemy  and  fight  to  the  last.  At 
this  moment,  union  is  necessary,  and  for  that  reason  we 
do  not  proclaim  the  republic."  The  President  then  pre- 
cipitately left  his  seat,  and  it  turned  out  that  it  was  for 
the  last  time.  The  irruption  into  the  Chamber  continued. 
The  floor  and  the  seats  of  the  deputies,  on  which  a  few 
members  of  the  Left  only  remained,  were  filled  with  a 
motley  crowd  in  blouses  and  coarse  woollen  shirts,  or  in 
the  uniform  of  the  National  Guard  or  the  Guard  Mobile. 
They  wore  caps  and  kepis  of  all  colors  and  shapes,  and 
carried  muskets  with  their  muzzles  ornamented  with 
sprigs  of  green  leaves.  The  tumult  became  indescrib- 
able, and  some  of  the  invaders  seized  on  the  pens  and 
paper  of  the  deputies  and  commenced  writing  letters, 
while  different  persons  were  going  up  to  the  President's 
chair  and  ringing  his  bell  continually.  The  crowd  in  the 
hall  now  demanded  the  " dechdance"  of  the  Emperor, 
which  was  declared,  and  then  it  was  proposed  to  go  to 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  proclaim  the  republic.  The  cry 
was  therefore  raised,  "A  I' Hotel  de  Ville"  mingled  with 
other  cries,  "  Cherchez  Rochefort"  etc.,  and  then  this  vast 
multitude  commenced  moving  away  from  the  Palais 
Bourbon. 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


107 


The  crowd  having  soon  sufficiently  dispersed,  we  were 
enabled  to  make  our  way  back  again  to  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif,  and  to  enter  the  diplomatic  tribune.  The  hall  was 
filled  with  dust,  and  was  in  the  greatest  possible  confu- 


sion.     A   rough-looking 
man  was    in    the    Presi- 
dent's chair,  surrounded 
by  a  number  of  'men  still 
more  rough  in  appearance. 
The  soldiers  and  the  peo- 
ple   were    occupying    the 

seats  of  the  deputies  indiscriminately,  writing  letters, 
looking  over  documents,  and  talking  and  laughing,  all  in 
the  best  humor.  In  the  hall,  at  this  time,  I  recognized 
Garnier-Pages,  Raspail  and  a  few  other  members  of  the 
Left. 

Leaving  the  Chamber,  we  went  at  once  to  the  Hotel  de 


108         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

Yille.  The  number  of  people  assembled  there  was  enor- 
mous, and  we  found  the  same  fraternization  existing  be- 
tween them  and  the  National  Guard  as  elsewhere.  The 
building  had  been  invaded  by  the  people,  and  all  the  win- 
dows fronting  on  the  square  were  filled  with  rough  and 
dirty-looking  men  and  boys.  Soon  we  heard  a  terrific 
shout  go  up.  Rochefort  was  being  drawn  in  a  cab  by  a 
multitude  through  the  crowd.  He  was  ghastly  pale  ;  he 
stood  up  in  the  vehicle,  covered  with  sashes  of  red,  white 
and  blue,  waving  his  hat  in  answer  to  the  acclamations. 
As  he  was  slowly  hauled  through  the  multitude  to  the  main 
door  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  delirium  seemed  to  have 
reached  its  height,  and  it  is  impossible  to  describe  the 
frantic  acclamations  which  were  heard.  At  precisely  four 
o'clock  and  forty-five  minutes  in  the  afternoon,  as  I  marked 
it  by  the  great  clock  in  the  tower  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  at 
one  of  the  windows  appeared  Gambetta ;  a  little  behind 
him  stood  Jules  Favre  and  Emmanuel  Arago ;  and  then 
and  there,  on  that  historic  spot,  I  heard  Gambetta  pro- 
claim the  republic  of  France.  That  proclamation  was  re- 
ceived with  every  possible  demonstration  of  enthusiasm. 
Lists  were  thrown  out  of  the  window,  containing  the 
names  of  the  members  of  the  provisional  government. 
Ten  minutes  afterwards,  Raspail  and  Rochefort  appeared 
at  another  window  and  embraced  each  other,  while  the 
crowd  loudly  applauded  them. 

During  this  time  the  public  were  occupying  the  Tui- 
leries,  from  which  the  Empress  had  just  escaped.  Sixty 
thousand  human  beings  had  rolled  toward  the  palace, 
completely  levelling  all  obstacles ;  the  vestibule  was  in- 
vaded, and  in  the  court-yard,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Place  du  Carrousel,  were  to  be  seen  soldiers  of  every 
arm,  who,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  removed  the 
cartridges  from  their  guns,  and  who  were  greeted  by  the 


GAMBETTA    PROCLAIMING    THE    REPUBLIC    OF     FRANCE. 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         109 

cries,  "  Long  live  the  nation  !"  "  Down  with  the  Bona- 
partes!"  "To  Berlin!"  etc.  During  all  of  this  time 
there  was  no  pillage,  no  havoc,  no  destruction  of  prop- 
erty, and  the  crowd  soon  retired,  leaving  the  palace  under 
the  protection  of  the  National  Guard. 

Some  discussion  had  been  raised  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
about  changing  the  flag,  but  Gambetta  declared  that  the 
tri-color  was  the  flag  of  1792-3,  and  that  under  it  France 
had  been,  and  yet  would  be,  led  to  victory.  From  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  Mr.  Eustis  and  myself  went  back  to  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  to  find  it  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  people.  From  there  I  returned  to  my  legation,  which 
I  reached  at  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  At 
eight  o'clock,  I  rode  down  to  the  Corps  Legislatif  to  see 
what  the  situation  there  was,  but  on  my  arrival  I  found 
everything  closed  and  the  lights  extinguished.  The 
doors  leading  to  the  Hall  of  the  Deputies  had  been  shut 
and  seals  put  upon  them.  I  then  drove  through  some 
parts  of  the  city,  and  found  everything  remarkably  quiet. 
The  day  had  been  pleasant  and  the  night  was  beautiful 
beyond  description.  Before  returning  to  my  lodgings,  I 
called  upon  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  Ambassador,  to  talk 
over  the  events  of  the  day  which  we  had  witnessed,  and 
which  we  were  certain  would  become  one  of  the  most 
memorable  in  the  history  of  France.  In  a  few  brief 
hours  of  a  Sabbath  day  I  had  seen  a  dynasty  fall  and  a 
republic  proclaimed,  and  all  without  the  shedding  of  one 
drop  of  blood. 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  the  Empress  and  her 
ladies-in-waiting  were  at  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  and 
with  great  trepidation  and  suspense  awaited  events. 
After  the  people  had  chased  the  Corps  Legislatif  from 
the  Chamber,  the  opposition  members  and  the  crowd 
had  proceeded  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  General  Trochu 


HO        THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC, 

then  went  to  the  palace  to  inform  the  Empress  of  the 
proceedings,  and  offered,  if  he  could  find  troops  enough, 
to  make  an  effort  to  protect  her  from  the  surging  and 
bellowing  crowd  which  surrounded  the  palace.  The  Em- 
press easily  foresaw  what  would  be  the  result  of  any  at- 
tempt to  defend  the  Tuileries,  and  she  determined  to 
escape  at  once,  if  possible.  At  a  little  after  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  imperial  flag  was  lowered  at  the 
Tuileries  for  the  last  time.  That  was  looked  upon  by 
the  crowd  as  evidence  that  the  Empire  had  fallen  ;  and 
then  commenced  the  rush  into  the  palace  by  the  great, 
motley,  turbulent  crowd,  which  showed  however  no  signs 
of  violence  or  ill-temper.  Once  inside  the  palace  they 
began  to  roam  through  the  magnificent  halls  and  gilded 
salons.  Occasionally  a  menacing  cry  was  raised.  The 
National  Guard,  though  disposed  to  do  its  duty,  was 
really  in  sympathy  with  the  mob,  and  hence  their  appeals 
to  the  crowd  to  spare  the  national  property  were  very 
effective,  and  very  little  damage  was  done.  At  this  hour 
there  was  with  the  Empress  quite  a  party  of  friends,  who 
had  entered  the  palace  to  look  after  her  safety  and  sup- 
port her  in  that  fearful  moment.  Among  the  gentlemen 
who  were  present,  were  General  Bourbaki,  Prince  Met- 
ternich,  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  and  Chevalier  Nigra, 
the  Italian  Minister.  It  was  determined  that  an  effort 
would  have  to  be  made  at  once  to  escape  from  the 
palace,  and,  after  running  many  hazards,  the  Empress 
and  a  lady-in-waiting  were  finally  enabled  to  enter  a  cov- 
ered voiture,  with  two  places,  and  drive  off  unmolested. 
There  has  been  a  vast  amount  of  foolish  talk  in  respect 
to  this  escape,  and  it  was  undoubtedly  a  very  fortunate 
one.  Metternich  and  Nigra  acted  admirably,  and  it  was 
through  their  tact  and  address  that  the  Empress  was  en- 
abled to  get  out  of  the  way  so  easily  and  safely.  On 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         m 

entering  the  voiture,  the  Empress,  seeking  a  place  of  ref- 
uge, bethought  herself  of  the  residence  of  Dr.  Evans 
(the  American  dentist),  on  the  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice, 
which  was  very  near  my  house.  She  hurriedly  gave  the 
order  to  the  coachman,  who  drove  off  rapidly,  but  not  in 
a  manner  to  attract  attention.  She  and  her  lady-in-wait- 
ing remained  at  the  house  of  the  Doctor  until  the  next 
morning  when  he  proceeded  with  them  to  Deauville, 
where  they  took  an  English  yacht,  and,  crossing  the 
English  channel,  arrived  at  the  harbor  of  Ryde,  England. 
It  was  an  interesting  and  perhaps  a  really  hazardous 
adventure ;  but  it  was  exaggerated  to  an  extent  which 
became  simply  ridiculous.  Dr.  Evans  proved  himself  a 
friend  in  deed,  as  well  as  a  friend  in  need,  and  was  much 
complimented  on  the  successful  manner  in  which  he  cared 
for  the  Empress. 

It  was,  as  I  have  related,  during  the  height  of  excite- 
ment in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  that  my  messenger 
came  to  me  with  the  urgent  message  from  Madame 
MacMahon.  Driven  from  one  place  to  another  in  the 
Palais  Bourbon,  I  hastily  prepared  the  following  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  passport  and  sent  it  immediately  to  her. 

Mr.   Washburne  to  the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  North  German 

Confederation. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  September  ^,  1870. 

This  is  to  request  that  full  permission  may  be  granted  to  Madame 
MacMahon,  the  wife  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  and  to  the  Vicomte  de 
Caraman,  the  brother  of  Madame  MacMahon,  and  the  Sister  of  Charity 
Madeleine,  to  pass  all  the  military  lines,  in  order  to  visit  the  Marshal, 
and  to  express  a  hope  that  all  proper  facilities  may  be  granted  to  ac- 
complish this  end. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  this 
legation  at  Paris,  this  4th  day  of  September,  1870. 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 


I  12 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


I  have  referred  to  the  Honorable  George  Eustis,  Jr., 
who  had  served  with  me  in  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress, 


as  a  Representative  from  New  Orleans,  and  was  my  asso- 
ciate on  the  Committee  of  Commerce,  of  which  I  was 
Chairman.  He  had  been  Secretary  to  Messrs.  Slidell  and 


THE  PROCLAMA  TION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.          \  \  3 

Mason  when  they  were  captured  on  the  Trent.  Our 
personal  relations  had  always  been  of  the  most  cordial 
character.  He  was  among  the  first  persons  who  called 
to  see  me,  and  welcome  me  to  Paris,  after  my  arrival 
there  in  my  official  capacity.  I  am  glad  to  speak  of  him 
here  and  express  my  appreciation  and  value  of  his  friend- 
ship. After  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  and  after  I  had 
been  overwhelmed  by  the  pressure  which  had  fallen  upon 
me,  in  virtue  of  my  relations  toward  the  Germans,  and 
when  I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  get  the  requisite 
help  in  my  legation,  Mr.  Eustis  kindly  volunteered  his 
services  and  gave  me  great  aid.  His  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  French  language,  his  large  acquaintance  in  Paris 
and  with  diplomatic  usages,  made  his  assistance  invalu- 
able. He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  intelligence,  of  the 
most  captivating  manners,  and  was  greatly  beloved  in  all 
circles  in  which  he  mingled.  It  might  be  said  that  no 
American  in  Paris  had,  in  common  language,  a  greater 
"  success"  than  he  had,  for  he  held  relations  with  many 
of  the  most  important  public  men  in  France.  He  was 
particularly  allied,  among  others,  to  George  W.  de  La 
Fayette,  the  grandson  of  General  de  La  Fayette.  Before 
the  siege  of  Paris,  his  health  began  perceptibly  to  fail,  and 
he  sought  recuperation  in  his  beautiful  chalet  at  Cannes. 
In  the  spring  of  1872  I  made  him  a  visit,  and  found  him 
in  the  last  stages  of  Bright's  disease,  but  even  yet  hope- 
ful of  recovery.  Returning  to  Paris,  in  a  few  days  there- 
after, I  received  a  telegram  from  M.  de  La  Fayette  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Pauvre  George  est  mort"  His  death  was  to  me 
a  great  affliction  and  a  great  loss. 

In  going  back  in  my  memory  to  the  events  of  the  $d 
and  4th  of  September,  many  things  occur  to  me  which  I 
did  not  set  down  in  my  diary.  I  suppose  there  never  was 
in  any  city  more  intense  excitement  than  on  the  night  of 


I  14         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

the  3d  of  September,  after  the  full  news  of  the  capture  of 
the  French  army  and  the  Emperor  at  Sedan.  It  was  a 
most  fearful  night.  The  whole  population  had  appar- 
ently turned  out,  and  had  abandoned  itself  to  the  most 
profound  emotion,  preparing  for  the  events  of  the  mor- 
row. 

I  find  that  I  recorded  in  my  diary  on  Saturday  even- 
ing, September  3d,  as  follows  : 

"  This  has  been  a  most  eventful  day  for  Paris  and  for 
France.  The  absence  of  official  despatches,  put  out  by  the 
French  government,  and  the  news  furnished  by  the  Lon- 
don Times  of  yesterday,  convinced  me  that  all  was  going 
against  France  at  the  theatre  of  war.  And,  at  three 
o'clock  this  afternoon,  I  received  a  cipher  despatch  from 
Mr.  Motley,  our  Minister  to  England,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Times  of  that  morning  said,  that  MacMahon  had 
been  totally  defeated  yesterday  between  Carignan  and 
Sedan ;  that  the  Prussians  had  captured  the  French 
General  and  over  forty  thousand  men,  seven  thousand 
horses,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns  ;  that  Bazaine 
had  been  defeated  before  Metz,  and  that  the  Crown 
Prince's  army  was  reported  to  be  at  Sedan.  As  soon 
as  I  received  this  news,  Mr.  Eustis  and  myself  started 
to  go  down  to  the  Corps  Legislatif,  but  the  sitting 
had  been  raised  before  we  reached  there.  We  were 
told,  however,  that,  in  that  sitting,  after  Palikao  had 
given  the  news,  Jules  Favre  declared  that  the  present 
government  was  extinct  and  that  only  a  military  dicta- 
tor could  save  the  country,  indicating,  but  not  naming, 
Trochu  as  the  man.  Reports  were  also  current  that  the 
Emperor  had  been  taken  prisoner,  and  also  that  he  had 
escaped  to  Belgium  with  Louis.  There  was  a  large 
crowd  in  front  of  the  Palais  Bourbon  and  a  great  many 
people  on  the  avenues  surrounding  the  Corps  Legislatif. 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         115 

It  was  a  sober  crowd.  The  truth,  so  long  concealed  by 
the  French  government,  had  at  length  broken  upon  Paris 
in  all  its  terrible  reality,  and  the  people  seemed  thor- 
oughly stupefied.  There  was  no  demonstration  and  no 
loud  talk,  and  the  aspect  was  sad  to  the  last  degree. 

"  My  son  has  just  come  from  the  prison  La  Roquette, 
and  says  that  there  are  some  yoq  prisoners  confined 
there,  mostly  Germans,  and  that  they  are  so  crowded 
that  it  is  -impossible  for  any  of  them  to  lie  down,  and 
that  they  all  have  to  stand  up.  I  am  going  to  see  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior  to-morrow,  and  shall  ask  him  if 
he  will  not  release  the  Germans  en  masse,  if  I  will  agree 
to  send  them  out  of  the  country.  After  dinner  my  son 
and  myself  went  down  to  the  Hotel  de  la  Place  du  Palais 
Royal  to  call  on  Judge  John  Ersktne,  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  of  Georgia,  who  was  then  visiting 
Paris  with  his  daughter.  When  we  came  out,  there  was 
quite  a  crowd  on  the  Rue  Rivoli,  bawling  for  Trochu, 
and  demanding  the  Republic,  and  as  it  was  in  the  street 
opposite  the  hotel  and  looked  a  little  threatening,  I  sug- 
gested to  the  Judge  that  he  and  his  beautiful  daughter 
should  come  to  my  house  for  protection,  where  they  are 
now.  At  half-past  eleven  the  Judge  and  myself  took  an 
open  voiture  and  rode  into  the  heart  of  the  city  to  see 
what  was  going  on.  We  found  large  crowds  of  excited 
men  on  the  Boulevards,  but  no  very  serious  demonstra- 
tion." 

Judge  Erskine  has  since  sent  sent  me  the  following 
reminiscences  of  those  exciting  days  : 

I  have  still  a  vivid  and,  I  think,  not  incorrect  remembrance  of  novel 
scenes  witnessed  before  and  immediately  after  September  4th.  For 
example  :  During  a  visit,  accompanied  by  my  daughter,  to  the  Palais 
de  Justice,  and  while  lingering  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Conciergerie 
an  officer  called  our  attention  to  a  hundred  or  more  of  the  vagabonds 


u6         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

of  Paris,  whom  we  could  see  huddled  together  in  a  large  enclosure,  and 
who  had  been  brought  there  by  the  police,  and  were  awaiting  trans- 
portation to  Southern  parts  of  France — probably  to  the  bagnios,  hulks, 
or  other  prisons.  The  officers  also  told  us,  that  the  authorities  were 
secretly  sending  off  a  hundred  or  so  of  these  rogues  and  suspects 
every  night ;  and  the  police,  by  cunning  and  stratagem,  replaced  them 
by  others  before  the  next  morning  ;  and  that  some  two  or  three  thousand 
had  been  sent  away  within  the  past  two  weeks. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  these  detenus — for  the  officer  said  there 
were  no  particular  charges  against  any  of  them — were  wretched  in  their 
confined  quarters.  No,  not  they  indeed  ;  and  they  seemed  to  be  in  a  gen- 
eral state  of  vivacity.  Many  were  singing  the  Hymn  of  the  "  Marseil- 
laise ;"  others,  ironically  piping  "  Partant  pour  la  Syrie."  Spurious  priests 
were  giving  choice  selections  from  "  La  piece  du  Pape  ;  "  while  three  or 
four  persons,  in  the  garb  of  the  "  pompes  funebres,"  were  chanting  some- 
thing not  unlike  the  Dead  March  ;  and  one  tall  fellow,  partly  rigged  in 
a  general's  threadbare  coat,  was  returning  the  mock  salutations  of  some 
lively  gamins,  with  martial  dignity.  We  were  likewise  informed  that 
many  women  were  detained  in  the  farther  division  of  the  enclosure  ;  also 
to  be  sent  Southward. 

I  have  entertained  the  idea  that  great  numbers  of  these  vile  men, 
by  various  means,  returned  to  Paris  after  Sedan,  and  during  the  anarchic 
state  of  that  city,  and  became  "  Communists,"  and  resumed  their  former 
vocations  of  incendiaries  and  assassins.  If,  as  I  have  conjectured,  the 
men  found  their  way  back  to  Paris,  to  pursue  their  old  trades,  with  im- 
proved and  enlarged  vigor ;  then,  is  it  not  highly  probable  that  many 
of  the  females  came  likewise,  and  did  service  as  petroleuses  ?  These  are 
simply  thoughts — and  they  cannot  be  placed  on  any  higher  ground  than 
inferences  from  inferences — for /have  no  data  or  account,  in  print  or 
in  writing,  indicating  that  these  people,  or  any  number  of  them,  did  re- 
turn to  Paris,  and  for  the  purposes  I  have  supposed.  Although  I  have 
not  a  basis  upon  which  to  build  a  logical  hypothesis,  nevertheless,  I  do 
not  think  it  presumptuous  to  submit  that  the  subject  merits  historic 
inquiry. 

I  call  to  mind  an  excursion  we  made  to  the  inner  Boulevards,  on  the 
memorable  night  of  September  3d.  About  ten  o'clock  you  said  to  me  : 
"  Let  us  go  and  see  the  Revolution,  for  it  is  nothing  less."  "  Curious  "  as 
Mr.  Pepys,  I  replied  :  "  Lead  on  and  I  will  follow  thee."  Not  desirous, 
I  presume,  to  use  your  own  carriage,  you  ordered  Antoine — that  man 
of  many  tongues — to  call  a  fiacre.  He  on  the  box  with  the  coachman, 
away  we  sped  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  ;  but  there  the  press  was  too 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         117 

dense  for  us  to  pass  to  the  Rue  Royale,  so  we  took  the  Rue  Boissy  d'An- 
glas  and  the  Rue  Pasquier  to  the  Boulevard  Haussmann,  and,  turning 
to  the  right,  drove  to  the  Rue  Taitbout,  and  into  the  Boulevard  des 
Italiens  ;  thence  along  it  and  the  Boulevard  Montmartre  to  the  corner 
of  the  Boulevard  Poissonniere  :  and  here  we  drew  rein ; — you  sending 
Antoine  and  the  fiacre  to  the  Cite  Bergere  for  safety  till  our  return. 
We  then  walked  along  the  Boulevards  Poissonniere  and  Bonne-Nouvelle 
to  within  a  hundred  paces  of  the  Rue  du  Faubourg  St.  Denis,  and  took 
post  under  a  bright  gas  light,  to  await  the  coming  of  the  procession  of 
citizens  which,  we  learned,  was  forming  on  the  Boulevard  de  la  Made- 
leine, and  also  to  observe  the  denouement,  and  to  witness  whether  the 
military,  whose  drums  we  heard  in  the  direction  of  Saint  Lazare  and 
the  Canal  de  St.  Denis,  would  oppose  the  march. 

It  was  but  a  brief  while  after  we  had  selected  our  position,  until  we 
descried  a  dark  mass  approaching  from  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens  ;  its 
front  filled  the  great  thoroughfare  from  trottoir  to  trottoir ;  and  as  the 
column  neared  us,  we  could  clearly  see  and  scan  the  faces  of  the  pro- 
cessionists :  manliness  of  port,  steadiness  of  purpose,  and  decision 
were  manifest ;  no  childish  effusion  or  indecorum  was  to  be  seen.  The 
greater  number  of  these  citizens,  observable  to  us,  was  evidently  of  the 
better-class  traders,  mechanics,  merchants  and  persons  of  the  learned 
professions  ;  some  wore  the  sash  of  office,  some  the  ribbon  of  the  Le- 
gion of  Honor.  Intermixed,  were  men  in  blouses,  zouaves,  chasseurs 
d'Afrique,  soldiers  of  the  line,  women  and  gamins.  The  head  of  the 
column  passed  us,  and  when  near  the  Rue  du  Faubourg  St.  Denis,  it 
seemed  to  vibrate,  soon  it  paused,  and  then  halted  ;  for  doubtless  soldiers 
were  seen,  or  their  tramp  heard,  advancing  from  the  Porte  St.  Denis. 
But  no  face  blanched.  Not  endowed  with  prescience,  none  could  divine 
whether  impending  danger  hovered  around  them  ;  or,  if  they  proceeded, 
the  instant  they  might  be  taken  in  flank,  and  riddled  into  eternity  ;  and 
many  of  these  must  have  remembered  the  ad  of  December.  Pres- 
ently, infantry  entered  from  the  Porte  St.  Denis,  deepening  their  ranks 
as  they  came  upon  the  Boulevard  ;  the  head  of  the  column  passing  over, 
and  resting  just  within  the  Rue  St.  Denis,  thus  barring  any  advance  of 
the  citizens.  Quickly  following  this  movement,  a  body  of  infantry 
emerged  from  the  Boulevard  de  Strasbourg,  and  cavalry  from  the  Porte 
St.  Martin,  and  marching  across  the  Boulevards  St.  Denis  and  St.  Mar- 
tin to  the  trottoir,  halted.  While  the  procession  remained  near  the  Rue 
du  Faubourg  St.  Denis,  scores  of  its  members  broke  ranks,  and  spread 
themselves  upon  the  sidewalk  or  trottoir,  obscuring  our  view  to  such  an 
extent,  that  I  could  no  longer  distinctly  see  the  rank  and  file  ;  but  the 


!l8         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

mounted  officers  and  troopers  were  still  discernible.  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this  impediment,  twice  or  thrice,  I  caught  glimpses  of  the  men, 
through  momentary  openings  (for  I  was  astutely  intent  on  discovery)  ; 
but  the  chassepots,  at  shoulder,  and  their  fixed  sword-bayonets,  glisten- 
ing, as  the  light  danced  upon  them,  were  clearly  visible.  When  the 
troops  entered  the  Boulevard,  from  the  Porte  St.  Denis,  the  citizens, 
leading  in  the  procession,  with  one  accord,  and  with  outstretched  arms, 
offered  fraternal  welcome,  and  filled  the  air  with  cries  of  "  Vive  le  Garde 
National!"  "Vive  la  ligne!"  and  "A  bas  Napoleon ! "  But  there  was 
no  response  :  all  was  still  but  not  calm.  Solicitude  and  Obedience 
stood  opposite.  The  period  of  suspense  passed  ;  a  loud  word  of  com- 
mand was  given  ;  the  column  front-faced  the  procession. 

Soon,  another  command  ;  the  glittering  sword-bayonets,  slanting  to- 
ward the  citizens,  disappeared  from  our  sight.  The  extreme  moment — 
of  life  or  of  death — was  at  hand  ;  "  And  the  boldest  held  his  breath  for 
a  time."  And  now  a  longer  period  of  anxiety  and  distrust  prevailed  ; 
but  the  prospect  being  obstructed,  by  the  crowd  on  the  sidewalk,  and 
the  voices  indistinct,  I  personally  knew  not  whether  the  citizens  and  sol- 
diers passed  the  time  in  conference,  fraternization,  or  how  otherwise. 
At  length,  still  another  command  ;  and  the  bayonets — bright  and  blood- 
less— sprang  to  view  ;  the  drums  beat,  the  soldiers  faced  to  the  head 
of  the  column,  and  marched  toward  the  Seine  and  the  Boulevard  St. 
Michel.  When  the  encumberers  of  the  trottoir,  had  returned  to  the 
procession,  and  the  military  had  crossed  the  Boulevard,  and  disappeared 
in  the  Rue  St.  Denis,  we  could  see  the  distant  troops — foot  and  horse — 
wending  their  way  in  the  direction  of  the  Boulevard  du  Temple.  The 
procession  moved  on  ;  and  joy  abounded  for  a  space  ;  but  soon  coun- 
tenances became  sombre  ;  then  anger  and  hatred  arose  ;  for  the  people 
remembered  the  coup  d'etat, — remembered  the  political  prisoners  and 
exiles, — remembered  Thiers,  Hugo,  Lamoriciere  ;  and  forgot  the  New 
Paris,  although  it  was  around  them  !  As  the  vast  column  proceeded,  de- 
nunciatory cries  were  voiced  aloud  ;  and  there  was  one — the  last — more 
portentous  and  appalling  still  ;  and,  to  my  mind,  it  flew  in  material 
shape  from  the  front  to  the  far,  far  rear,  rending  and  tearing  the  Impe- 
rial structure  :  De'che'ance,  De'cheance,  Dtchfance  !  It  thrills  me  to  this 
hour.  You  were  right,  my  friend,  "  It  was  a  Revolution,  and  nothing 
less." 

True  though  strange,  that  during  these  scenes,  the  catastrophe  of 
Sedan  was  unknown  to  the  people  of  Paris. 

The  following  day,  amid  thousands  and  thousands  of  people,  I  stood 
upon  that  historic  spot — the  old  Place  de  Greve,  in  front  of  the  Hotel 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


119 


de  Ville,  and  looking  up  at  an  open  window,  I  saw  the  tricolor  and 
Gambetta  ;  and  at  the  moment  I  beheld  the  national  flag  and  the  MAN, 
the  regime  of  the  coup  d'ttat  toppled  and  crumbled  to  dust.  Then 
arose  the  gladdening  shout,  "  Vive  la  Re"publique."  I  thought  to  myself, 
La  chaine  est  briste  j  and  came  away. 

I  record  on  Sunday  morning,  September  4th,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  At  half-past  twelve  this  morning,  my  secretary  Colo- 
nel Hoffman  came  to  my  house  and  awakened  me  to  tell 
me  of  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  MacMahon,  the  capture 
of  the  Emperor,  etc.      At 
seven  this  morning  the  mes- 
senger brought  in  the  offi- 
cial bulletin,  containing  the 
proclamation  of  the  Minis- 
ters, and  also    a    despatch 
from    Mr.    Motley    of   the 
same  purport." 

The  perfect  good  nature 
of  the  masses  could  not  fail 
to  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion, particularly,  of  a  for- 
eigner. I  did  not  see  any 
indication  of  bad  feeling  or 
violence,  except,  in  one  in- 
stance, when  the  crowd  ran 
after  the  carriage  of  the 

Spanish  Ambassador,  making  certain  threats  ;  but  noth- 
ing further  occurred.  The  sight  in  the  grand  square 
in  front  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  was  one  which  can 
never  be  forgotten  by  any  person  who  witnessed  it.  The 
crowd  was  immense,  some  three  hundred  thousand.  As 
Mr.  Eustis  and  I  stood  on  the  outside  of  it,  we  could  but 
remark  the  peaceable  disposition  of  the  people.  The  ef- 


M 


120        THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

feet  produced  by  the  throwing  out  of  bulletins  containing 
the  names  of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
was  prodigious.  Immediately  after  this  performance  had 
taken  place  and  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
had  been  accepted  by  the  people  of  Paris,  we  were  im- 
mensely amused  when  we  saw  the  old  Hebrew  advocate, 
Cremieux,  who  had  been  named  to  the  Ministry  of  Jus- 
tice, come  out  from  the  Hotel  de  Ville  without  a  hat,  has- 
tily enter  an  open  cab  and  ride  bare-headed  towards  the 
Ministry. 

On  September  yth  I  received  a  telegraphic  despatch 
from  the  State  Department  at  Washington  directing  me 
to  recognize  the  new  government  as  soon  as  the  situation, 
in  my  judgment,  should  justify,  and  "tender  congratula- 
tions of  President  and  Government  of  the  United  States 
on  successful  establishment  of  Republican  government." 
Having  received  this  despatch,  on  the  same  day  I  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  M.  Jules  Favre,  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

PARIS,  September  7,  1870. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  your  communication  of  the  5th 
instant  was  received  at  this  legation  at  1 1  o'clock  last  night,  in  which 
you  inform  me  that  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  has,  by  a 
resolution  of  its  members,  confided  to  you  the  Department  of  Foreign 
Affairs. 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  advise  you  that  I  have  this  morning 
received  a  telegraphic  despatch  from  my  government  instructing  me  to 
recognize  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  as  the  government  of 
France. 

I  am,  therefore,  ready  to  put  myself  in  communication  with  that  gov- 
ernment, and,  under  your  permission,  to  transact  all  such  business  as 
may  properly  appertain  to  the  functions  with  which  I  am  charged. 

In  making  this  communication  to  Your  Excellency,  I  beg  to  tender  to 
yourself  and  to  the  members  of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
the  felicitations  of  the  Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         121 

They  will  have  learned  with  enthusiasm  of  the  proclamation  of  a  Repub- 
lic in  France,  accomplished  without  the  shedding  of  one  drop  of  blood, 
and  they  will  associate  themselves  in  heart  and  sympathy  with  that  great 
movement,  confident  in  the  hope  of  the  most  beneficial  results  to  the 
French  people  and  to  mankind. 

Enjoying  the  untold  and  immeasurable  blessings  of  a  republican  form 
of  government  for  nearly  a  century,  the  people  of  the  United  States  can 
but  regard  with  profoundest  interest  the  efforts  of  the  French  people, 
to  whom  they  are  bound  by  the  ties  of  traditional  friendship,  to  obtain 
such  free  institutions  as  will  secure  to  them  and  to  their  posterity  the 
inalienable  rights  of  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  In 
conclusion,  I  desire  to  say  to  Your  Excellency  that  I  congratulate  myself 
that  I  am  to  hold  relations  with  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
through  a  gentleman  so  distinguished  as  Your  Excellency,  and  one  so 
well  known  in  my  own  country  for  his  high  character  and  his  long  and 
devoted  services  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty  and  free  government. 

I  take  this  occasion  to  assure  Your  Excellency  that  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

His  Excellency  JULES  FAVRE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

On  the  next  day  I  received  the  following  answer  from 
M.  Jules  Favre,  which  bore  evidence  of  that  mastery  of 
the  French  language  for  which  he  was  so  much  distin- 
guished : 

[Translated.] 

PARIS,  September  8,  1870. 

SIR  :  I  look  upon  it  as  a  happy  augury  for  the  French  Republic  that 
it  has  received  as  its  first  diplomatic  support  the  recognition  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  No  one  can  better  remind  us  in 
words,  both  just  and  noble,  of  the  inappreciable  benefits  of  a  republi- 
can government  than  the  representative  of  a  people  which  has  given 
to  the  world  the  salutary  example  of  absolute  liberty. 

You  have  founded  your  wise  and  powerful  institutions  upon  inde- 
pendence and  upon  civic  virtue,  and  notwithstanding  the  terrible  trials 
sustained  by  you,  you  have  preserved  with  an  unshaken  firmness  your 
faith  in  that  grand  principle  of  liberty,  from  which  naturally  spring  dig- 
nity, morality,  and  prosperity. 


122         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

Nations,  masters  of  their  own  destinies,  should  strive  to  follow  in 
your  footsteps.  They  cannot  be  truly  free  unless  they  are  devoted, 
fearless,  moderate  ;  taking  for  their  watchword  the  love  of  labor  and 
respect  for  the  right  of  all.  This  is  the  programme  of  the  new-born 
Government  of  France,  springing  from  the  painful  crisis  provoked  by 
the  follies  of  despotism  ;  but  at  the  hour  of  its  birth  it  can  have  no 
other  thought  than  to  save  the  country  from  the  enemy.  Here,  too,  it 
meets  the  example  of  your  courage  and  your  perseverance. 

You  have  sustained  a  gigantic  contest,  and  you  have  conquered. 
Strong  in  the  justice  of  our  cause,  rejecting  all  lust  of  conquest,  desir- 
ing only  our  independence  and  our  liberty,  we  have  a  firm  hope  of  suc- 
cess. In  the  accomplishment  of  this  task  we  count  on  the  aid  of  all 
men  of  heart,  and  of  all  governments  interested  in  the  triumph  of 
peace.  The  adhesion  of  the  Cabinet  of  Washington  would  alone  give 
us  this  confidence.  The  members  of  the  government  beg  me  to  com- 
municate to  you  all  their  gratitude  for  it,  and  to  request  you  to  transmit 
its  expression  to  your  government. 

For  my  part  I  am  happy  and  proud  that  fortune  has  permitted  me  to 
be  the  link  of  union  between  two  peoples  bound  together  by  so  many 
glorious  memories,  and  henceforward  by  so  many  noble  hopes,  and  I 
thank  you  for  having,  with  so  great  kindness  toward  myself,  expressed 
all  which  I  feel  toward  you,  as  well  as  my  desire  to  strengthen  more 
and  more  the  relations  of  affectionate  esteem  which  should  unite  us 
forever. 

Accept  the  assurances  of  the  Jiigh  consideration  with  which  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

JULES  FAVRE. 
Mr.  WASHBURNE, 

Minister  of  the  United  States. 


The  new  government  of  the  National  Defence  was 
very  soon  installed  in  Paris.  All  the  new  ministers  had 
taken  possession  of  their  respective  departments,  their 
predecessors,  in  no  case  making  the  least  objection  to 
surrendering  their  portfolios  to  a  new  government  of 
France,  which  had  been  made  only  by  the  people  of 
Paris.  This  was  to  me  a  most  extraordinary  spectacle, 
that  a  government  could  be  thus  so  completely  and  en- 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


123 


tirely  changed.  Nowhere  in  France,  that  I  know  of,  was 
any  protest  made  against  it ;  but  it  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived and  accepted  as  the  government  of  the  country. 


Mr.   Washburne  receives  a  Delegation  of  French  Citizens. 

The  agitation  in  Paris  continued,  and  the  people  seemed 
stunned  at  a  revolution  so  peacefully  accomplished. 

The  recognition   of  the  government  of  the   National 


124 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


Defence  as  the  government  of  France  by  myself  was  the 
first  recognition  by  any  nation,  and  it  created  a  great 
deal  of  enthusiasm  everywhere.  Masses  of  people  pa- 
raded in  the  streets,  bearing  the  American  and  French 
flags,  and  repeating  the  cries,  "  Vive  £  Amerique"  "  Vive 
la  France."  This  feeling  found  expression  by  their  wait- 
ing upon  me  and  tendering  their  thanks  and  congratula- 
tions for  what  I  had  done  in  respect  to  the  recognition. 
On  September  8th,  a  large  delegation,  composed  of  very 
respectable  gentlemen,  waited  upon  me  in  my  private 
room  and  read  a  short  address  begging  that  I  would 
transmit  to  my  government,  the  thanks  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  French  citizens  for  the  promptness  and  cordiality 
with  which  I  had  recognized  the  French  government. 
The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  address  which  they 
left  with  me  : 

LEGATION  DES  ETATS-UNIS, 

PARIS,  September  8,  1870 — 4  P.M. 

We  come  in  the  name  of  a  large  number  of  French  citizens,  certain 
that  we  shall  be  approved  and  followed  by  the  whole  nation,  to  beg  you 
to  present  our  thanks  to  your  government  for  the  spontaneity  with 
which  it  answered  the  notification  of  our  French  Republic.  To  you, 
sir,  reverts  a  large  part  of  our  thanks  for  the  gracious  words  which  your 
heart  dictated  in  communicating  to  us  the  recognition  by  your  govern- 
ment. The  French  people  will  long  remember  the  excellent  words  of 
the  American  Minister.  We  did  not  expect  less  of  this  great  and  gen- 
erous nation  whose  aspirations  and  principles  have  always  been  in  com- 
munion with  the  ideas  of  France.  America  and  France  are  sisters, 
sisters  as  republics,  that  is  to  say,  sisters  in  liberty.  The  ocean  which 
separates  us  is  less  deep  than  the  sentiments  which  unite  us. 

I  responded  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  On  behalf  of  my  government  I  thank  you  for  this 
demonstration.  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  transmitting  the  thanks  which 
you  have  so  eloquently  expressed  for  the  action  which  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  has  taken  in  recognizing  the  new  republic  of 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         125 

\ 

France.  In  my  communication,  to  which  you  so  kindly  allude,  I  only 
expressed  the  sentiments  of  the  President  and  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  The  American  people  feel  the  greatest  interest  in  the 
grand  movement  which  has  just  been  inaugurated  in  France,  and  will 
indulge  in  the  most  fervent  wishes  for  its  success,  and  for  the  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  the  French  people.  Living  themselves  under  a  re- 
publican form  of  government,  they  know  how  to  appreciate  its,  bless- 
ings, and  to-day,  with  warm  hearts  and  eloquent  words,  they  felicitate 
their  ancient  ally  on  the  accomplishment  of  that  peaceful  and  bloodless 
revolution  which  must  challenge  the  profound  interest  of  all  lovers  of 
liberty  throughout  the  world. 

For  several  days  companies  and  regiments  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard  appeared  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  lega- 
tion, with  music  playing,  and  French  and  American  flags 
flying.  Halting  in  front  of  the  legation,  their  cheers 
were  continued  until  I  stepped  upon  the  balcony  and  bid 
them  welcome,  and  thanked  them  for  the  compliment 
they  had  paid  my  government.  Then  a  committee 
would  be  selected  to  pay  their  respects  to  me,  in  the  le- 
gation. This  committee  would  consist  of  officers  decked 
out  in  full  military  toggery.  They  would  be  very  effu- 
sive and  cordial  in  their  thanks,  and  the  principal  man  of 
the  delegation  would  end  his  complimentary  remarks  by 
adopting  the  custom  of  the  First  Revolution  in  giving 
me  the  accolade  (that  is,  a  kiss  on  both  cheeks). 

On  the  1 6th  of  September,  I  supposed  I  had  got  all 
the  expelled  Germans  out  of  Paris,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  sick,  who  were  unable  to  be  removed.  For  the 
last  few  days  before  the  gates  of  Paris  were  finally  shut 
on  September  i8th,  the  pressure  at  the  legation  for  pass- 
ports was  greater  than  ever.  Those  poor  people  were 
completely  panic-stricken,  and  many  feared  that  they 
would  be  shut  up  in  Paris  and  either  starve  to  death  or 
be  made  victims  of  bad  treatment.  During  these  times 
I  devoted  myself  to  the  work  for  eighteen  hours  a  day. 


126         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


I  would  be  at  my  legation  before  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  But  that  was  not  all.  There  was  great  diffi- 
culty in  getting  cars  enough  to  take  the  expulses  away, 
and  the  scenes  at  night  at  the  Gare  du  Nord,  when  hun- 
dreds of  Germans  were  struggling  to  get  their  tickets  and 
their  places  in  the  cars,  were  most  exciting.  The  trains 


The   American   Legation   at  Paris. 

were  to  leave  every  night  at  half-past  ten,  and  I  went 
there  some  time  before  their  departure  to  try  and  regu- 
late matters  and  to  assist  these  people  in  getting  off.  It  is 
but  just  to  say  that  the  railroad  company  behaved  admi- 
rably and  did  all  in  its  power  to  facilitate  their  departure. 
Soon  after  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
had  become  installed,  it  was  a  question  whether  the  mem- 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         127 

bers  should  leave  Paris  and  go  to  Tours,  or  whether  they 
should  remain  in  Paris.  It  was  finally  determined  that 
they  should  remain  in  Paris  and  depute  the  Minister 
of  Justice,  M.  Cremieux,  M.  Glais-Bizoin  and  Admiral 
Fourichon  to  go  to  Tours  to  represent  the  government 
of  the  National  Defence.  About  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember all  the  Ambassadors  representing  the  European 
powers,  in  France,  together  with  the  Italian  Minister, 
M.  Nigra,  left  Paris  for  Tours.  They  evidently  "picked 
up  their  hats  in  a  hurry,"  and  left  without  any  consulta- 
tion with  other  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  The 
Papal  Nuncio  and  several  ministers  of  smaller  powers 
still  remained  in  Paris.  On  the  23d  of  September  the 
members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  remaining  in  Paris 
were  convoked  by  the  Pope's  Nuncio,  the  Doyen  of  the 
corps,  to  meet  at  his  residence,  at  No.  102  St.  Domi- 
nique, St.  Germain,  Paris.  The  proceedings  of  the 
meeting  are  stated  in  a  proces  verbal  which  is  here  in- 
serted : 

A  meeting  of  the  diplomatic  corps  having  been  convoked  by  the 
Pope's  Nuncio,  the  Doyen  of  the  corps,  some  twenty-two  members  of  the 
body  met  at  n  o'clock  A.M.,  Friday,  September  23,  1870,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Nuncio,  No.  102  St.  Dominique,  St.  Germain,  Paris.  The 
Nuncio  stated  his  reasons  for  convoking  the  body.  Their  present  posi- 
tion as  diplomatic  representatives  was  comparatively  a  useless  one,  as 
their  communications  with  their  various  governments  were  now  cut  off. 
He  considered  it  proper  that  they  should  consult  together  and  decide — 

First.  Whether  the  time  had  come  when  it  was  proper  for  them  to 
leave  Paris. 

Secondly.  Whether  they  should  act  together,  or  act  separately. 

Thirdly.  If  it  should  be  decided  not  to  leave  at  the  present  time,  that 
it  should  be  determined  what  steps  were  to  be  taken  to  send  and  re- 
ceive despatches  through  the  military  lines. 

The  Nuncio  thought  the  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  the  corps  to 
leave.  He  thought  it  best  for  the  members  to  act  collectively,  and  he 
hoped  measures  would  be  taken  so  that  they  could  communicate  with 


128         THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

their  governments.  He  concluded  by  asking  a  general  expression  of 
opinion. 

Mr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  minister,  expressed  a  decided  opinion  that  it  was 
not  proper  for  the  body  to  leave  now.  The  time  for  leaving  would  be, 
according  to  diplomatic  usage,  when  the  notice  of  bombardment  had 
been  received.  He  had  thought  strange  of  certain  members  of  the 
corps  leaving  without  notice  or  consultation  with  their  colleagues.  He 
thought  it  was  more  dignified  to  remain  and  .act  collectively.  He 
wished  the  Nuncio  to  take  upon  himself  to  communicate  with  the  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs  and  obtain  all  information  possible  in  relation  to 
communicating  through  the  military  lines,  and  to  arrange  for  the  egress, 
if  it  should  become  necessary,  of  the  diplomatic  corps. 

After  a  few  observations  of  Baron  de  Zuylen  de  Nyevelt,  envoy  extra- 
ordinary and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  Holland,  and  by  Baron  Beyens, 
envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  Belgium,  Mr.  Wash- 
burne  remarked  that  he  fully  agreed  with  the  opinions  expressed  by  his  col- 
leagues who  had  spoken.  He  was  obliged  to  the  Nuncio,  who  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  convoke  the  body,  for,  in  the  circumstances  that  existed, 
he  considered  it  important  that  they  should  act  in  concert.  He  did 
not  consider  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  diplomatic  corps  to  leave, 
for  he  thought  they  should  stay  as  long  as  possible,  not  only  for  the 
dignity  of  their  own  governments,  but  for  the  protection  of  such  of 
their  countrymen  as  might  yet  be  in  Paris.  For  himself,  he  wished 
to  give  to  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  such  considera- 
tion as  was  due  to  it  as  a  government  recognized  by  the  United  States. 
He  thought  steps  should  be  taken  immediately  to  open  communication 
through  the  lines  for  the  despatches  of  the  diplomatic  body,  and  that 
as  soon  as  anything  was  accomplished,  another  meeting  should  be  con- 
voked. It  would  be  unnecessary  at  the  present  meeting  to  take  any  steps 
in  relation  to  going  out  of  the  city,  as  the  emergency  had  not  arisen  to 
render  it  necessary  to  go. 

After  further  and  informal  expression  of  opinions,  the  Nuncio  con- 
sented to  accept  the  mission  confided  to  him,  and  said  he  would  recon- 
vene the  body  at  an  early  day  to  report  as  to  what  had  been  done. 
The  meeting  then  separated. 

On  the  22d  of  September,  seven  consuls  general  and 
consuls  of  Central  and  South  American  Republics,  who 
had  no  accredited  diplomatic  representatives  in  France, 
invoking  the  sentiments  of  union  and  fraternity  which 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         129 

should  unite  states  having  republican  institutions  in  com- 
mon, "had  the  honor  to  pray  me,  in  the  name  of  the  laws 
of  nations,  of  justice  and  humanity,"  to  take  under  my 
official  protection  the  chancelleries  of  the  above  men- 
tioned republics.  Having  no  time  to  communicate  with 
my  own  government  and  obtain  instructions  relative 
thereto,  I  addressed  a  communication  to  M.  Jules  Favre, 
asking  if  the  French  government  would  assent  to  my  tak- 
ing these  chancelleries  under  my  charge.  He  promptly 
answered  that  my  request  had  been  favorably  received, 
and  added  that  the  foreign  consuls  could  not  make  a 
choice  which  would  be  more  acceptable  than  that  of  the 
representative  of  the  United  States. 

Having  thus  obtained  this  assent  from  M.  Jules  Favre, 
I  addressed  to  the  consuls,  a  communication  on  Septem- 
ber 3Oth.  I  stated  that  not  being  able  to  communicate 
with  my  government  on  the  subject,  I  took  it  for  granted 
that  on  account  of  the  warm  feeling  of  friendship  it  held 
for  its  sister  republics,  it  would  most  willingly  have  me 
assume  all  the  good  offices  and  protection  which  I  could 
properly  render  in  the  premises  ;  and  that  it  would  give 
me  pleasure  to  place  myself  at  their  disposition  and  to 
offer  my  own  good  offices  and  the  friendly  protection  of 
my  government,  so  far  as  they  might  be  in  accordance 
with  usage  and  public  law  in  such  cases.  I  stated  fur- 
ther that  my  government  would  feel  highly  complimented 
by  the  distinguished  mark  of  confidence  shown  to  it 
by  its  sister  republics  of  Central  and  South  America  ; 
and  that  the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  took  the  deepest  interest  in  all  that  concerned 
their  welfare  and  happiness,  and  that  they  cordially  recip- 
rocated the  sentiment  of  fraternity  and  sympathy  which 
had  been  so  kindly  expressed. 

In   the  early  part  of  the  troubles,  M.   Favre  had  ex- 


130 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


pressed   to  me,  incidentally,  the   hope   that  our  govern- 
ment might  feel  like  intervening  between    France  and 
Germany  in  the  interests  of  peace.     By  doing  so,  he  said, 
we  might  be  able  to  render  a  service  to  our  ancient  ally 
and  stay  the  tide  of  war.      I  guarded  myself  very  vigi- 
lantly against  giving  him  any  assurance  in  that  respect. 
But,  afterwards,  he  presented  the  matter  in  a  more  for- 
mal manner  and  expressed  the  idea  that  I  might,  in  my 
individual  capacity,  and  not  as  minister,  do  something  in 
the  way  of  bringing  about  an  understanding  between  the 
two  governments.     When  it  was  presented  in  this  more 
formal  light,  I  answered  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
separate  my  position  as  a  private  citizen  from  that  as  a 
diplomatic  representative ;  that  in  a  matter  of  so  grave 
concern,  I  would  not  presume  to  act,  except  under  the 
direction  of  my  government.      I  told  him  that  I  always 
considered  myself  as  the  minister  of  the  United  States. 
I,  therefore,  telegraphed  to  my  government  what  was  de- 
sired on  behalf  of  M.  Favre,  and  asked  instructions,  which 
I  duly  received  by  telegraph  and  which  were  of  the  pur- 
port which  I  expected, — that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment would   not   intervene,  in  any  way,  except  upon  the 
demand  of  both  of  the  belligerent  powers.     Awaiting  this 
reply,  M.  Favre  was  very  anxious,  as  he  seemed  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  matter  of  great  importance  that  the  United 
States  should  in   some  way  intervene.     On  reaching  my 
legation  the  morning  after  I  had  received  the   despatch, 
I  found  M.  Favre  awaiting  me  to  ascertain  its  character. 
I  read  it  to  him  and  explained  fully  how  our  government 
regarded  all  those  matters,  and  that  it  had  been  the  tra- 
ditional policy  of  our  government  to  keep  out  of  all  en- 
tangling alliances  with  foreign  governments.     M.  Favre 
thanked  me  cordially  for  what  I   had  done,  and  said  he 
hoped  that  while  our  government  could  not  intervene  of- 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC.         131 

ficially  it  would  give  the  new  Republic  of  France  its  moral 
support. 

The  first  business  of  the  government  of  the  National 
Defence  was  to  address  itself  to  making  preparations  for 
the  defence  of  the  country.  On  September  i4th  there 
were  no  less  than  three  hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the 
city,  which  was  the  very  worst  place  they  could  be  in. 
Instead  of  having  a  country  campus  for  instruction,  where 
the  soldiers  could  be  properly  drilled,  and  away  from 
adverse  influences,  a  good  deal  of  their  time  was  spent 
in  parading  up  and  down  the  streets  and  avenues  of  the 
grand  city,  sipping  wine  at  the  cafes  and  smoking  cigar- 
ettes. It  is  but  just  to  say  that  these  men  had  in  them 
all  the  elements  to  make  good  soldiers,  that  they  were 
brave  and  patriotic,  and  only  needed  good  officers  and 
strict  discipline  to  mould  them  into  a  magnificent  army. 

On  September  gth  I  had  addressed  a  despatch  to  my 
government  in  explanation  of  the  state  of  affairs  existing 
at  that  time  in  Paris.  One  could  hardly  realize  how  com- 
plete the  change  had  been,  and  how  thoroughly  it  had 
been  acquiesced  in  by  France.  On  Sunday  morning,  Sep- 
tember 4th  the  Journal  Officiel  de  1'Empire  Franc,ais  ap- 
peared as  usual ;  on  Monday  morning  it  appeared  as  the 
Journal  Officiel  de  la  Republique  Francois,  with  all  the 
addresses,  proclamations  and  decrees  of  the  new  govern- 
ment, designated  as  the  government  of  the  National 
Defence.  The  government  was  composed  of  the  eleven 
deputies  of  Paris  to  the  Corps  Legislatif.  To  these  were 
added  General  Trochu,  as  President,  Jules  Favre,  as  Vice- 
President  and  Jules  Ferry,  as  Secretary.  As  constituted, 
the  government  of  the  National  Defence  was  composed 
of  well  known  men  of  the  Left.  The  Journal  Officiel  of 
Monday,  speaking  of  the  revolution  of  Sunday,  said  : 

"  The  characteristic  peculiarity  of  the  revolution  of  the 


132 


THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 


4th  of  September  is  the  complete  order  and  uniformity 
with  which  it  took  place.  The  National  Guard,  hardly 
organized,  evinced  the  admirable  power  which  it  pos- 
sessed, at  the  same  time  saving  the  honor  of  France  and 
preserving  order  in  the  city.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing the  most  profound  quiet  reigned  throughout  Paris. 
The  Senate  and  Legislative  body  are  vacant  and  seals 
are  fixed  to  the  doors  of  the  chambers.  Paris  is  calm  in 
every  part." 

On  Monday  morning  everything  was  remarkably  peace- 
ful throughout  the  city  ;  the  ministers  were  duly  installed 
in  their  departments  attending  to  their  duties.  The 
new  order  of  things,  accepted  by  the  people  of  Paris  was 
really  wonderful.  The  terrible  misfortune  brought  upon 
France  by  the  misfortunes  of  the  fallen  dynasty,  the 
rivers  of  blood  that  had  been  uselessly  shed  in  the  war, 
the  terror  and  anguish  felt  by  all,  tended  to  render  them 
satisfied  with  almost  anything.  The  liberal  journals  of 
Paris  commented  with  exultation  upon  the  change,  while 
the  other  journals  accepted  the  new  state  of  things  with 


resignation. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    FIRST    WEEKS    OF    THE    SIEGE. 

Closing  of  the  Gates  on  September  i8th,  1870 — Street  Scenes — Victor  Hugo's 
Return  from  Exile — Panic  of  the  French  Troops — Favre's  Interview  with 
Bismarck — The  Spy  Episode — Scarcity  of  Fresh  Meat  and  Abundance 
of  Bread — General  Burnside's  Visit — Bismarck's  Special  Favor  to  the 
United  States  Minister — A  Diplomatic  Correspondence. 

THE  gates  of  Paris  were  practically  closed  on  Sunday, 
September  i8th,  though,  on  the  subsequent  Mon- 
day, a  telegraph  despatch  from  the  United  States  got 
through  to  me.  exactly  how  I  never  understood.  It  was 
indeed,  a  lonely  feeling  that  came  over  the  Parisians  when 
they  reflected  that  they  were  shut  out  from  the  wide,  wide 
world.  No  letters,  no  mails,  no  news  from  the  outside. 
No  one  believed  that  the  siege  would  endure  more  than 
a  few  weeks,  and  people  went  along  quite  as  usual.  The 
great  feature  was  the  immense  military  force,  all  to  be 
fed.  Provisions  had  been  laid  in  for  a  reasonable  time, 
and  that  man  would  have  been  deemed  insane  who  would 
have  predicted  that  the  gates  of  the  besieged  city  would 
not  be  open  until  the  last  day  of  February — four  and  a 
half  dreary  and  mortal  months.  That  great  and  beau- 
tiful city,  the  pride  of  France,  with  nearly  two  millions 
of  people,  surrounded,  besieged,  cut  off  from  all  com- 
munication with  the  world  !  The  contemplation  of  all 
the  incidents  of  that  siege  of  all  the  patient  suffering  of 
the  people,  of  all  the  anxiety  and  terror,  of  all  the  hunger, 
cold,  starvation,  sickness,  and  hope  deferred,  the  bom- 


J34 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


bardment,  the  battles,  the  wounded  and  the  dead,  made 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  events  that 
could  possibly  be  presented  to  the  student  of  history. 

A  short  time  previous  to  September  4th,  my  family 
being  absent  from  Paris,  I  had  left  my  own  residence,  in 
the  Avenue  de  1'Imperatrice,  to  occupy  a  large  hotel  in 
the  Avenue  Montaigne.  It  was  there  I  was  on  the  day 
of  the  revolution.  A  curious  incident  had  happened  on 
the  night  of  September  4th,  after  the  imperial  dynasty 
had  fallen.  The  Prince  and  Princess  Murat,  members  of 
the  family  of  the  Emperor,  resided  in  the  Avenue  Mon- 
taigne, not  far  from  the  house  which  I  was  temporarily 
occupying.  About  midnight  one  of  the  domestics  of 
Prince  Lucien  Murat,  who  had  lived  a  long  time  in 
Florida  and  had  married  a  South  Carolina  lady,  brought 
to  me  a  large  bag  of  gold  with  the  compliments  of  the 
Prince,  begging  me  to  take  care  of  it  for  him  that  night. 
In  the  excitement  which  was  then  prevailing  I  have  no 
doubt  there  was  great  fear  on  the  part  of  the  Prince  and 
his  family,  that  the  populace  might  attack  his  residence. 
That  was  the  reason  why  he  desired  to  have  his  gold  coin 
in  what  he  considered  a  safe  place.  I  received  the  bag, 
which  was  a  pretty  heavy  one,  and  put  it  between  my 
mattresses  and  went  to  sleep.  The  next  morning,  when 
everything  seemed  to  be  more  quiet  and  peaceable,  the 
same  servant  came  back  and  took  away  the  bag,  very 
much  to  my  relief. 

And  this  incident  illustrated  the  saying  that  "when 
times  change  men  change  with  them."  The  court  eti- 
quette required  that  every  diplomatic  representative, 
after  entering  upon  his  duties,  should  make  a  formal  call 
on  all  the  members  of  the  family  of  the  Emperor,  and 
that  was  all  arranged  through  the  Foreign  Office.  Soon 
after  my  arrival  in  Paris  the  time  had  been  fixed  when 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  135 

the  Minister  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Washburne 
were  to  call  on  the  Prince  and  Princess  Lucien  Murat. 
We  arrived  at  the  hotel  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  very 
promptly  on  time,  and  perhaps  a  little  in  advance  of  the 
moment  when  we  were  expected,  for  we  found  the  old 
Prince  hurrying  down  to  the  court  to  take  his  carriage  in 
order  not  to  be  present  at  the  interview,  leaving  the  Prin- 
cess alone  to  receive  us.  It  was  a  little  more  than  a  year 
after  this  that  he  sent  his  bag  of  gold  to  my  house  to 
have  me  keep  it  for  him. 

On  the  day  after  the  gates  of  Paris  were  closed,  that  is, 
on  September  igth,  I  left  the  Avenue  Montaigne  and 
returned  to  my  home,  No.  75  Avenue  de  1'Imperatrice. 
Reaching  there  at  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  I  found  it 
in  strange  contrast  to  what  it  had  been  in  the  peaceable 
times  before  the  war.  The  first  thing  that  I  saw,  as  I 
proceeded  up  the  avenue  was  two  cannon,  placed  directly 
in  front  of  my  house.  Before  the  large  door  on  the  Rue 
Spontini,  which  entered  into  the  court,  were  the  caissons, 
the  artillery  men  and  horses,  and  they  were  strung  out  all 
along  the  Avenue  Bugeaud.  The  soldiers  were  cooking 
their  suppers  and  every  few  minutes  was  heard  the  ran- 
dom discharge  of  a  gun.  Yet  all  in  the  house  was  quiet, 
and  there  was  no  occasion  to  realize  the  least  sense  of 
any  danger.  The  grand  entrance  into  the  Bois  de  Bou- 
logne, which  was  very  near  my  residence,  was  being  forti- 
fied, and  there  were  no  carriages  passing  on  the  avenue. 
That  great  artery  through  which  had  passed  for  so  many 
years  all  the  royalty,  wealth,  fashion,  frivolity  and  vice 
of  Paris  was  cut,  and  there  was  the  silence  of  death. 
Many  friends  called  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  and  we 
all  wondered  if  the  world  had  ever  before  witnessed  so 
great  a  change  in  so  short  a  time.  It  seemed  to  us  all 
like  a  dream ;  we  felt  for  the  first  time  that  we  were  cut 


136  THE  FIRST  WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

off  from  the  outside  world.  It  seemed  odd  to  be  of  the 
great  world  and  yet  not  in  it,  shut  out  from  all  communi- 
cation. But  after  all,  a  certain  portion  of  Paris  did  not 
seem  to  mind  it  much.  There  were  the  same  little  voi- 
turcs,  the  same  omnibuses,  the  same  stores  open,  the  same 
people  moving  about,  and  it  seemed  a  little  singular  that 
they  were  cleaning  and  watering  the  Champs  Elysees  as 
usual.  There  was  quite  a  movement  occasioned  by  the 
Guard  Mobile  electing  their  own  officers.  There  were  a 
great  many  groups  in  the  streets.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
there  came  the  news  of  the  complete  surprise  of  the 
French  troops  outside  of  the  walls.  There  was  a  general 
rushing  to  the  inside,  and  as  the  soldiers  poured  into  the 
city,  in  a  very  demoralized  condition,  they  told  awful  sto- 
ries of  the  Prussian  power  and  strength. 

I  made  an  informal  and  unofficial  call  on  the  govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence  on  that  day.  I  went  down 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at  noon,  where  the  government  held 
its  sittings.  I  traversed  the  magnificent  halls  of  that  his- 
toric building,  and  finally  was  ushered  into  the  splendid 
salon  which  was  the  room  of  the  government.  It  was  a 
large  room  and  most  elegantly  furnished.  There  was  a 
long  table  around  which  the  members  of  the  government 
sat.  In  the  room  I  found  the  following  members  of  the 
government:  Emmanuel  Arago,  Jules  Simon,  Garnier- 
Pages,  Jules  Ferry  and  Eugene  Pelletan.  It  was  perhaps 
Arago,  who,  of  that  number,  impressed  me  most.  He 
was  a  man  of  Herculean  frame,  with  a  fine  head  and  in- 
tellectual face,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  courage  and 
energy.  He  was  an  advanced  republican,  and  figured  in 
the  revolution  of  1848,  and  was  sent  as  minister  to  Ber- 
lin. Jules  Simon  had  been  a  moderate  republican,  a  man 
of  real  ability  and  exceptional  accomplishments.  He  had 
devoted  himself  much  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  was 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


137 


regarded  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  talkers  in  France. 
All  of  these  gentlemen  were  extremely  cordial  and  full 
of  thankfulness  to  our  country  for  the  sympathy  it  had 
manifested  with  the  new  republic. 

After  all  the  excitement  and  the  labor  I  had  been 
through,  I  was  much  refreshed  by  a  night's  rest  ;  and  on 
Tuesday  morning,  September  2oth,  as  I  arose,  I  found 
that  the  company  of  artillery  had  disappeared,  and  that 
quiet  reigned  in  our  immediate  neighborhood. 

I  should  have  before  stated  that,  on  September  Qth, 
the  government  of  the  National  Defence  issued  a  procla- 
mation to  the  French  people.  They  said  that  power  lay 
prostrate ;  that  which  commenced  by  an  attempt,  fin- 
ished by  a  desertion.  They  had  only  picked  up  the 
government  which  had  escaped  from  impotent  hands. 
Europe  needed  to  be  enlightened,  they  said,  and  it  was 
proper  that  it  should  know,  by  irrefutable  proof,  that 
France  was  with  its  government.  Then  followed  a  little 
innocent  bravado.  The  invader  was  to  encounter  upon 
his  route,  not  only  the  obstacle  of  an  immense  city,  re- 
.solved  to  perish  rather  than  surrender,  but  a  whole  peo- 
ple, moreover,  organized  and  represented  by  a  new  gov- 
ernment ;  in  fine,  which  was  to  carry  into  every  place,  in 
spite  of  every  disaster,  the  living  soul  of  the  country. 
This  whole  proclamation  now  read  in  the  light  of  the 
events  which  followed,  seems  somewhat  amusing.  It 
ended  by  decreeing  that  the  electoral  college  of  France 
should  be  convoked  for  Sunday,  October  i6th,  in  order 
to  elect  a  Constituent  National  Assembly. 

Victor  Hugo  had  been  driven  from  France  after  the 
coup  d'etat  of  1851,  and  had  been  twenty  years  in  exile 
in  the  Island  of  Jersey.  The  Revolution  of  the  4th  of 
September  had  opened  the  door  for  his  return  to  his  own 
beloved  France,  and  on  the  6th  of  the  month  he  entered 


I  ;8      THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

\J 

Paris,  and  had  a  grand  ovation  at  the  Gare  du  Nord,  on 
his  return,  by  way  of  Brussels.  To  the  boisterous  and 
enthusiastic  crowd,  who  received  him,  the  brave  old  man 
answered  at  his  best.  He  exclaimed  :  "  Paris  must  not 
be  sullied  by  invasion.  To  invade  Paris  is  to  invade  lib- 
erty :  it  is  to  invade  civilization.  No  such  invasion  shall 
triumph  ;  Paris  will  be  saved  by  the  union  of  all  souls,  all 
hearts,  all  arms,  in  her  defence.  To  defeat  Paris  means 
new  hatred,  new  resentments,  new  barriers  between 
people  and  people.  Paris  must  be  victorious  in  the  name 
of  fraternity  ;  for  only  by  making  the  fraternity  of  all 
possible,  can  the  liberty  of  all  be  gained."  And  seeing 
our  flag,  he  called  attention  to  it,  and  said,  "  That  ban- 
ner of  stars  speaks  to-day  to  Paris  and  to  France,  pro- 
claiming miracles  of  power  which  are  easy  to  a  great 
people,  contending  for  a  great  principle  ;  the  liberty  of 
every  race  and  the  fraternity  of  all." 

In  the  Journal  Officiel  of  September  yth  there  ap- 
peared a  circular  addressed  to  the  diplomatic  agents  of 
France,  by  the  Vice-President  of  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  M. 
Jules  Favre.  This  was  an  able  document,  drawn  up  in 
that  captivating  style  which  belonged  to  M.  Jules  Favre, 
and  which  pleased  the  French  people  immensely.  After 
speaking  of  the  war  with  the  Prussians  as  a  defiance,  he 
said  they  accepted  it  ;  and  then  he  made  use  of  that 
language  which  has  become  historic  : 

"  Nous  ne  cederons  ni  un  ponce  de  noire  territoire  ni 
une  picrre  de  nos  fortresses" 

He  said  that  a 'shameful  peace  would  only  be  a  war  of 
extermination  ;  that  they  would  only  treat  for  a  durable 
peace.  He  said  that  they  had  an  army  resolved,  well 
provided,  well  established  ;  and  everywhere  the  breasts  of 
three  hundred  thousand  combatants,  decided  to  fight  to 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE,  139 

the  last.  And  then  he  alluded  to  the  statue  of  Strasbourg 
which  had  been  set  up  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  and 
this  was  one  of  the  absurdities  of  the  time.  The  statue 
was  heavily  covered  with  crape,  and  the  people  in  great 
numbers,  and  many  companies  and  regiments  of  soldiers 
would  surround  it.  I  shall  never  forget  walking  down 
the  Champs  Elysees  one  pleasant  afternoon  when  I  saw 
this  great  crowd  surrounding  the  statue  and  covering  it 
with  immortelles  and  with  small  flags  and  bouquets. 
There  were  many  mottoes,  and  there  was  a  picture  of 
General  Uhrich,  who  had  just  leaped  into  public  notice 
on  account  of  some  little  military  fame  which  he  had 
gained.  The  people,  by  hundreds  and  hundreds,  would 
stand  before  the  statue,  their  whole  bearing  being  that  of 
extreme  grief. 

Jules  Favre  took  advantage  of  that  feeling  by  saying 
in  his  communication  that,  when  the  people  came  piously 
to  place  crowns  at  the  feet  of  the  statue  of  Strasbourg, 
they  were  not  only  obedient  to  a  sentiment  of  enthusias- 
tic admiration,  but  they  took  their  heroic  mot  cTordre,^ 
and  they  swore  to  be  worthy  of  their  brothers  in  Alsace 
and  to  die  as  they  had. 

There  also  appeared  in  the  Journal  Officiel  of  Septem- 
ber 7th  the  announcement  that  a  voluminous  correspond- 
ence of  the  imperial  family  had  been  seized  at  the  fron- 
tier by  the  watchfulness  of  the  Prefect  of  Police  ;  that 
that  correspondence  appertained  to  history,  and,  in  con- 
sequence, the  Minister  of  the  Interior  had  instituted  a 
commission  with  the  direction  to  unite,  to  classify  and 
prepare  for  publication,  those  curious  pieces.  These 
"  curious  pieces  "  were  afterwards  published  in  a  pamph- 
let by  the  French  government  and  created  an  immense 
amount  of  scandal.  In  the  interests  of  decency,  such 
documents  should  never  have  been  made  public. 


140 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


It  was  on  the  8th  of  September  that  Gambetta,  as 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  had  announced  that  three  corps 
d'armec  of  the  Prussians  were  marching  towards  Paris. 
I  think  that  official  announcement  created  more  conster- 
nation and  excitement  in  Paris  than  I  had  hitherto  seen. 
Great  numbers  of  excited  people  gathered  on  the  Boule- 
vards, and  the  scenes  were  extraordinary.  In  the  midst 
of  all  this,  Trochu,  for  the  purpose  of  quieting  and  paci- 
fying the  people,  issued  his  proclamation  saying  that  the 
defence  of  Paris  was  "  assured."  One  of  the  revolution- 
ary papers  called  for  a  subscription  to  be  raised  to  pur- 
chase a  fusil  d ' Jwnneur  to  be  given  to  any  man  who 
would  take  off  King  William.  And  then  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  talk  and  clamor,  and  it  was  demanded  that 
"  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity  "  should  be  inscribed  on 
the  public  edifices.  That  had  long  before  been  held  to 
mean  "infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery." 

Victor  Hugo  now  proclaimed  that  "  Paris  has  an 
anchor,  a  civilization  fermenting  within  her,  that  the  Red 
French  of  the  Republic  placed  in  her  crater  ;  and  that 
the  city  was  full  of  all  the  explosions  of  the  human  soul. 
Tranquil  and  troubled,  Paris  awaited  the  invasion.  The 
volcano  needed  no  assistance."  That  was  regarded  as 
wonderful. 

I  wrote  in  my  diary  on  September  i5th  as  follows: 
"  The  Paris  of  to-day  is  not  the  Paris  of  a  few  weeks  ago. 
Every  carriage  of  pleasure  has  disappeared  ;  the  streets 
are  no  longer  sprinkled  or  cleaned,  and  before  the  recent 
rain  the  dust  on  the  Champs  Elysees  was  so  great  that 
you  could  hardly  see  a  rod  before  you.  Indeed  the  city 
is  but  one  vast  camp  ;  three  hundred  thousand  soldiers 
passed  in  review  before  General  Trochu  on  Tuesday. 
There  are  soldiers  everywhere,  organized  and  organizing, 
of  all  arms,  uniforms,  shades  and  colors  ;  demoralization, 


THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE.      141 

confusion  and  disorder,  everywhere  ;  streets  and  avenues 
filled  with  tents  and  baggage  wagons,  horses,  forage, 
etc.  The  garden  of  the  Tuileries  is  filled  with  artillery. 
There  is  a  great  movement  of  troops  to-night,  regiments 
are  marching  down  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  as  I  write, 
I  distinctly  hear  them  singing  the  eternal,  but  ever  inspir- 
ing Marseillaise.  I  have  not  spoken  of  the  demonstrations 
in  honor  of  our  country  Tuesday  night.  There  were 
two,  the  telegraph  men,  about  twelve  hundred,  and  a 
regiment  of  the  National  Guard  both  coming  to  the  house 
temporarily  occupied  my  me,  at  No.  29  Avenue  Mon- 
taigne. On  Tuesday,  the  day  of  the  review,  there  was 
no  end  of  marching  and  countermarching  before  the  le- 
gation. No  less  than  twenty-one  delegations  called  on 
me,  each  one  having  a  spokesman  to  make  an  address, 
thanking  the  United  States  for  its  prompt  recognition  of 
the  new  republic,  and  myself  as  the  organ,  and  then  such 
shaking  of  hands,  embracing,  cheers  and  '  vivas  ! ' ' 

The  first  affair  before  the  walls  of  Paris  was  on  Sep- 
tember i Qth,  and  was  called  indifferently  "battle,"  "re- 
connaissance," "  combat,"  "  sortie."  It  was  the  next  morn- 
ing that  I  found  that  the  company  of  artillery,  which  had 
been  about  my  house,  had  disappeared.  The  weather 
was  splendid.  As  I  walked  down  to  my  legation,  I  heard 
the  news  on  every  side  that  the  French  forces  had  been 
driven  back.  It  turned  out  to  have  been  a  most  dis- 
graceful affair,  for  the  French  soldiers  ran  like  sheep  and 
poured  pell-mell  into  the  city.  In  the  evening  Gambetta, 
as  Minister  of  the  Interior,  issued  a  proclamation  saying 
that  the  cannon  sounded  and  the  supreme  moment  had 
arrived,  and  implored  the  soldiers  not  to  be  troubled  by 
cowards  or  by  laggards,  but  stating  that  if  cowards  came 
flying  into  the  city  and  bearing  with  them  disorder  and 
panic  and  falsehood,  that  they  (the  soldiers)  should  re- 


142 


THE  FIRST  WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


main  unmoved,  assured  that  a  court  martial  would  be 
instituted  to  judge  the  cowards  and  deserters,  which 
would  watch  over  public  safety  and  protect  national 
honor. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  September  2Oth,  I  wrote  in  my 
diary  :  "  This  may  be  considered  the  second  day  of  the 
siege,  and  it  has  been  almost  without  incident.  The 
cowardice  of  the  troops  yesterday  has  been  strongly  de- 
nounced in  the  papers,  and  General  Trochu  has  issued  a 
proclamation  on  the  subject.  It  is  high  time,  for,  if  the 
demoralization  of  the  troops  be  not  stopped,  they  will  be 
utterly  worthless.  The  city  is  filled  with  them,  roaming  in 
all  directions  ;  some  with  arms  and  others  without  any. 
The  papers  say  Jules  Favre  has  gone  to  see  King  Wil- 
liam. I  think  that  may  be  true,  but  the  papers  are  so 
filled  with  canards,  it  is  very  hard  to  tell  what  to  believe. 
La  Liberte,  one  of  the  best  of  them,  says  this  evening, 
that  I  accompanied  Favre.  However,  so  far  as  I  know 
myself,  I  am  here  quietly  at  my  residence  in  Paris  at  nine 
o'clock  this  night.  The  Avenue  de  1'Imperatrice,  as  we 
know  it,  has,  by  a  freak  of  the  day,  been  changed  to  the 
Avenue  '  Uhrich.'  The  day  has  been  perfectly  lovely— 
a  beautiful  fall  day,  bright  and  clear.  I  rode  down  the 
Champs  Elysees  at  two  o'clock  P.M.  The  Avenue  has 
been  cleaned  and  sprinkled  ;  regiments  of  soldiers  were 
stringing  along  on  both  sides,  resting  on  their  arms.  I 
hear  that  there  was  a  movement  of  about  forty  thousand 
troops  through  the  city,  but  I  did  not  see  any  of  them. 
Many  persons  were  at  the  legation  to-day,  of  all  nations, 
and  all  wanting  something  from  the  representative  of  the 
great  republic.  Several  South  American  consuls  want 
to  put  themselves  under  my  protection ;  a  Mexican 
woman  wants  secours  ;  a  daughter  of  a  former  minister  of 
San  Domingo  wants  protection  ;  a  French  woman  badly 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  143 

scared,  wants  to  know  if  I  am  going  out  of  the  city,  and 
if  so,  she  wants  to  accompany  my  party. 

On  September  i2th,  the  Journal  Officiel  had  announced 
that,  in  the  present  circumstances,  M.  Thiers  would  not 
refuse  his  services  to  the  government,  and  that  he  would 
depart  that  evening  on  a  mission  to  London,  and  from 
there  go  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Vienna.  That  painful 
and  difficult  mission,  thus  undertaken  by  M.  Thiers,  at 
his  time  of  life,  and  at  the  approach  of  winter,  was  one 
of  the  most  touching  incidents  connected  with  the  life  of 
that  remarkable  man.  I  well  recollect  the  day  of  his  de- 
parture, and  the  emotion  and  the  interest  it  created  in  all 
Paris.  It  was  another  evidence  of  his  patriotism  and 
love  of  country. 

On  September  2ist  Trochu  issued  a  proclamation,  or 
rather  an  address,  to  the  National  Guard,  to  the  Guard 
Mobile  and  to  the  troops  in  the  garrison  at  Paris,  in 
which  he  denounced  the  panic  of  the  iQth  as  being  un- 
justifiable and  that  their  excuses  for  their  conduct  were 
puerile,  and  that  they  were  lying  excuses ;  they  said  that 
they  wanted  cartridges,  and  all  sorts  of  things,  and  that 
they  had  been  betrayed  by  their  chiefs.  He  said  further, 
that  he  was  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  such  disorders. 
He  ordered  all  the  adventurers  of  Paris  to  be  seized, — 
isolated  men,  soldiers  of  all  arms,  Gardes  Mobiles  who 
had  wandered  into  the  city  in  a  state  of  drunkenness, 
spreading  scandals,  and  by  their  attitude  dishonoring  the 
uniform  which  they  wore. 

I  wrote  in  my  diary,  on  September  2ist,  in  the  even- 
ing, that  the  third  day  of  the  siege  was  almost  without 
incident,  and  that  the  weather  was  still  lovely  and  so 
many  people  on  the  streets  that  you  might  almost  call 
the  day  a  gay  one  ;  that  the  Avenue  of  the  Champs 
Elysees  was  cleaned  and  sprinkled  as  I  rode  down  town 


144 


777^  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


at  one  o'clock.  "There  were  not  so  many  people  at  the 
legation  as  the  day  before,  but  a  good  many  straggled 
in  to  see  if  I  had  any  news.  A  balloon  started  at  four 
o'clock  that  afternoon  to  get  outside  of  the  besieging 
forces.  I  entrusted  to  it  a  couple  of  letters  to  be  sent  to 
London.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  visited  the 
American  ambulance  which  had  been  established  on  the 
Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice,  nearly  opposite  my  house.  I 
met  there  Baron  Larrey,  the  Surgeon  General  of  the 
French  army.  He  paid  the  highest  kind  of  a  compli- 
ment to  the  institution."  I  record  in  my  diary  :  "  I  think 
this  ambulance  of  ours  is  far  superior  to  any  I  have  seen 
in  the  French  army.  The  news  this  evening  is  that 
Favre  has  returned,  and  that  the  government  has  refused 
the  terms  of  peace  offered  by  the  Prussians.  If  so,  what 
next  ?  There  is  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  dying  in  the 
last  ditch.  That  is  an  old  acquaintance  ;  we  heard  so 
much  of  it  during  our  war.  It  will  turn  out  that  these 
men  who  refused  all  terms  of  peace  will  be  the  last  to 
fight  and  the  first  to  run.  I  hear  of  no  fighting  to-day, 
but  it  will  come,  for  the  Prussians  are  right  up  to  the 
walls." 

On  September  22d  I  recount  that  it  was  the  4th  and 
most  serious  day  of  the  siege.  The  declarations  of  the 
Journal  Officiel  and  other  French  journals  of  that  morn- 
ing showed  that  there  was  no  hope  of  peace.  The 
Prussians  demanded  territory,  and  no  government  could 
yield  to  such  a  demand  and  live  a  day  in  France.  There 
was  great  excitement  all  over  the  city  ;  there  were  more 
than  the  usual  number  of  men  in  Paris  on  that  clay  swear- 
ing to  die  on  the  ramparts  ;  indeed,  almost  every  man 
was  going  to  die  instantly  for  his  country.  Such  sort  of 
nonsense  in  the  face  of  danger  was  only  ridiculous. 
There  were  demoralization  and  disorganization  every- 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  145 

where.  Nothing  was  accomplished  and  all  was  talk  and 
swagger. 

The  Journal  Officiel  of  September  23d  published  in 
full  a  long  report  which  Jules  Favre  had  made  to  Bis- 
marck, on  the  i Qth  of  that  month.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  to  recount  all  that  took  place  between  these  two  dis- 
tinguished men,  at  Ferrieres,  on  the  iQth.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  cool-headed  German  got  the  advantage  of 
the  Frenchman.  This  interview  was  a  terrible  ordeal  for 
M.  Favre.  In  reading  over  his  report  to  his  colleagues, 
it  is  impossible  to  repress  a  feeling  of  respect  and  pity  for 
M.  Favre,  for  the  anguish  which  this  matter  had  brought 
to  him.  After  recounting  what  had  taken  place  between 
him  and  Bismarck,  he  says,  "  I  have  only  one  word  more 
to  say,  for  in  reproducing  this  grievous  recital  my  heart 
is  agitated  with  all  the  emotions  which  have  tortured 
it  during  three  mortal  days."  In  this  interview,  propo- 
sitions were  made  on  both  sides  but  no  result  was 
reached.  M.  Favre  returned  to  Paris  to  make  known  in 
his  report  to  his  colleague,  which  I  have  alluded  to,  the 
result  of  all  the  demarches  he  had  made,  looking  towards 
peace. 

And  now  came  the  "spy"  episode.  It  was  a  great 
event  to  arrest  some  person  as  a  "  Prussian  spy."  Every 
foreigner  was  a  "suspect"  Dr.  Curtis,  an  American  gen- 
tleman, who  had  resided  for  seven  years  in  Paris,  and 
was  then  devoting  himself  to  a  hospital,  was  brought  to 
the  legation  by  a  Colonel  of  the  National  Guard  to  have 
him  identify  himself.  It  was  great  business  for  the 
Colonel  to  arrest  this  peaceable  American  who  was  devot- 
ing his  services  to  the  French  sick  in  the  hospital. 

More  and  more  Americans  came  to  the  legation  every 
day.  Before  the  siege  they  were  all  going  to  stay  and 
<(  see  it  out ;  "  but  now,  on  the  4th  day,  they  came  around 


146      THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

to  inquire  how  they  could  get  out  in  case  of  an  emer- 
gency. One  woman  had  tried  twice  to  get  out,  but  both 
times  had  been  turned  back.  She  then  came  to  the  le- 
gation in  the  highest  state  of  grief  and  excitement.  Rid- 
ing down  town  that  afternoon,  I  heard  of  a  demonstra- 
tion at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  rode  up  there  through  the 
Rue  de  Rivoli,  which  was  filled  with  soldiers,  marching 
and  countermarching.  There  was  a  very  large  crowd, 
mostly  of  unarmed  soldiers,  in  an  open  square  in  front  of 
the  building.  They  were  quiet  and  orderly,  and  their  ob- 
ject was  to  demand  that  the  elections  might  be  postponed. 
The  day  before  there -were  five  hundred  women  on  the 
same  spot,  asking  for  alms.  So  that  every  day  there  was 
a  crowd  clamoring  for  something.  My  diary  continues  : 
"  The  next  demand  will  probably  be  for  a  change  of  gov- 
ernment to  let  in  the  Reds.  The  grand  thing  of  the  day 
now,  is  the  ovation  to  the  statue  of  Strasbourg  in  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde.  The  crowd  there  to-day  was  im- 
mense ;  when  I  was  there,  three  regiments  were  saving 
Paris  by  filing  before  it.  The  Nuncio  has  sent  to  the 
Diplomatic  Corps  a  notice  to  be  at  his  house  at  eleven 
A.M.  to  deliberate  on  the  question  of  leaving  the  city." 

On  Friday  morning,  September  23d,  at  eight  o'clock, 
the  5th  day  of  the  siege,  I  wrote  as  follows  in  my  diary  : 
"As  I  descend,  into  the  petit  salon,  I  see  soldiers  on 
every  side  ;  a  company  is  drilling  in  front  of  the  house, 
another  in  the  Avenue  Bugeaud,  and  yet  another  is  quar- 
tered in  an  adjoining  house.  Discharges  of  artillery, 
which  were  heard  at  six  o'clock  this  morning,  are  now 
more  distinctly  heard  as  I  write,  the  sound  coming  from 
beyond  the  Trocadero.  An  action  is  evidently  going  on. 
From  all  I  see  and  hear,  perhaps  the  Prussians  will  soon 
be  in  the  city."  (Half  an  hour  later.)  "The  firing  is 
more  rapid.  I  shall  take  a  voiture  and  ride  by  the  Troca- 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE.  147 

dero,  as  I  go  to  the  legation,  to  see  what  I  can  see.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  lovely  mornings."  The 
same  evening  I  wrote  :  "  There  was  quite  a  little  action 
this  morning,  and  the  French  claimed  an  advantage  ;  but 
I  do  not  see  that  it  amounts  to  much.  Yet  they  take 
courage  from  the  result.  Jules  Favre's  letter  has  created 
a  great  impression,  and  quite  a  different  spirit  seems  to 
animate  Paris.  At  eleven  o'clock,  I  went  to  the  Nuncio's 
to  meet  the  Diplomatic  Corps  to  consult  as  to  what  we 
should  do.  The  Ambassadors  had  all  gone  away  the 
week  before,  but  there  were  several  members  of  the  corps 
present.  All  agreed  that  it  was  not  the  time  for  us  to 
leave  now,  and  that  we  would  hereafter  act  collectively. 
It  was  further  agreed  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  see 
if  we  should  not  find  means  to  have  our  despatches  taken 
through  the  lines.  Then  we  separated,  to  meet  again  on 
call  of  the  Nuncio.  I  called  on  Gambetta  at  four  o'clock 
this  afternoon  to  get  at  the  truth  of  the  wild  reports  fly- 
ing around  the  city  in  relation  to  the  action  this  morning. 
He  seemed  in  better  spirits  and  more  hopeful  than  when 
I  had  seen  him  previously,  and  his  statement  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  military  forces  in  Paris  rather  surprised  me. 
He  said  they  had  500,000  men  with  arms  in  their  hands 
in  the  city  ;  the  National  Guard  alone  numbered  300,000, 
Guard  Mobile,  160,000,  and  besides,  they  had  quite  a 
force  of  troops  of  the  line  ;  that  was  a  larger  force  than 
the  Prussians  had  outside. 

"  The  consuls  general  and  consuls  of  the  various  South 
American  powers,  who  have  no  diplomatic  representa- 
tives here  have  addressed  to  me  a  communication,  ask- 
ing the  protection  of  the  United  States  legation  under 
the  present  grave  circumstances.  There  seems  to  be 
more  order,  more  earnestness  and  more  drilling  of  troops 
to-day  than  I  have  yet  seen.  General  Trochu  is  out 


148      THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

with  a  proclamation  forbidding  further  parades  and  mani- 
festations.     The  time  for  sober  work  has  arrived." 

I  recorded  in  my  diary  that  Tuesday  September  2 7th, 
the  Qth  day  of  the  siege,  had  been  a  troublesome  one. 
I  was  not  up  in  the  morning  when  the  messenger  of  the 
legation  came  to  see  me  in  relation  to  sending  off  some 
despatches  and  to  bring  me  two  letters  that  had  come 
to  the  legation.  This  messenger  was  Antoine  Schmidt. 
He  was  a  native  of  Luxemburg  and  had  been  serving 
as  messenger  of  the  legation  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years. 
He  spoke  French  and  German  perfectly  and  English  in- 
differently. He  was  intelligent,  polite  and  strictly  hon- 
est, and  had  become  well  known  to  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  American  colony.  He  was  ever  ready  to 
make  himself  useful  to  our  compatriots  in  every  possible 
manner,  and  such  was  the  good  opinion  entertained  of 
him,  and  their  sense  of  many  obligations,  that  when, 
some  time  after  the  peace,  he  concluded  to  emigrate 
to  the  United  States,  they  contributed  very  liber- 
ally to  a  fund  to  aid  him  in  carrying  out  his  pur- 
pose. Antoine  represented  to  me  that  one  of  the  letters 
was  from  Jules  Favre  in  relation  to  an  attack  which 
had  been  made  by  the  soldiers  on  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Hedler,  who  had  a  large  school  for  American  and  Eng- 
lish boys,  in  the  Rue  de  la  Faisanderie.  M.  Favre 
seemed  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  the  action  of  the 
soldiers  and  placed  himself  fully  at  my  disposition,  and 
said  he  would  make  all  possible  reparation.  This  attack 
showed  how  ridiculously  people  could  act  when  panic- 
stricken.  On  Sunday,  September  25th,  a  pigeon  flew 
out  of  the  garden  behind  the  house  of  Madame  Hedler, 
and  made  its  way  over  the  ramparts  towards  the  beseiged 
forces.  Nobody,  not  under  the  influence  of  a  panic, 
could  have  made  anything  out  of  that  simple  incident. 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  149 

But  it  was  then  suspected  that  a  carrier  pigeon  had  been 
sent  off  by  some  Prussian,  who  was  in  the  house,  to  carry 
news  to  the  enemy.  So  a  lieutenant,  with  a  squad  of 
men,  broke  into  the  house,  and  searched  every  room 
from  cellar  to  garret.  One  of  my  sons  was  in  this  school 
and  roomed  in  the  house ;  his  room  was  completely  ran- 
sacked. The  two  guardians,  who  were  in  charge  of  the 
house,  were  seized  by  this  military  force  and,  with  threats 
and  oaths,  taken  off  to  the  police  station.  The  other 
letter  was  from  the  United  States  Consul  at  Paris,  re- 
lating a  cock  and  bull  story  about  a  pretended  invasion 
of  the  consulate. 

In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  I  went  to  see  M.  Jules 
Favre  to  talk  to  him  about  both  of  these  matters.  He 
seemed  very  much  troubled,  and  said  such  things  must 
stop,  and  if  Trochu,  the  military  Governor,  did  not  do 
it,  the  government  itself  would.  He  seemed  sober  and 
much  oppressed. 

M.  Favre  saw  at  once  the  gravity  of  the  affair  at  Mrs. 
Hedler's,  and  said  energetic  measures  should  be  taken 
to  inquire  into  the  matter,  punish  the  perpetrators  and 
make  the  fullest  reparation.  The  Prefect  of  Police,  M. 
Keratry,  was  immediately  notified,  and  he  went  in  per- 
son to  the  premises  to  make  an  examination.  He  had 
the  battalion,  to  which  the  soldiers  belonged,  who  commit- 
ted the  outrage,  mustered,  and  he  made  a  speech  to 
them,  denouncing  in  the  strongest  language  the  proceed- 
ings, and  declared  that  every  one  engaged  in  them  should 
at  once  be  sent  to  a  military  tribunal  ;  and  said  further, 
that  the  government  would  make  the  most  prompt  and 
complete  reparation. 

Favre  up  to  this  time  had  made  a  favorable  impression 
upon  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  My  old  friend  Mr.  Kern, 
the  Swiss  Minister,  spoke  highly  of  him  ;  he  said  he 


150 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


considered  his  report  of  his  interview  with  Bismarck  the 
most  remarkable  diplomatic  paper  on  record  ;  that  it  was 
drawn  up  with  a  degree  of  ability,  eloquence  and  skill, 
which  made  it  almost  without  a  parallel.  About  this 
time  we  had  all  become  very  anxious  to  receive  intelli- 
gence from  the  great  outside  world. 

On  the  evening  of  the  gth  day  of  the  siege,  I  had  a 
dinner  party  of  eleven  covers  at  my  house.  Among  the 
guests  were  Dr.  Johnston,  a  distinguished  American 
physician  in  Paris,  and  Dr.  John  Swinburne  of  New 
York  (now  a  Member  of  Congress  from  Albany,  N.  Y.), 
both  of  whom  afterwards  became  connected  with  the 
American  ambulance,  and  won  much  credit  for  the  ad- 
mirable manner  in  which  they  discharged  their  duties. 
Dr.  Johnston  told  us  that  evening  that  he  had,  the  day 
before,  distinctly  seen  the  Prussian  guns. 

Wednesday  evening,  September  28th,  I  recounted  the 
events  of  the  loth  day  of  the  siege.  I  had  been  busy  all 
day.  I  find  I  recorded  in  my  diary  as  follows  :  "  It  looks 
more  and  more  like  '  grim  visaged  war '  right  in  our 
neighborhood — a  new  defence  going  up  right  inside  the 
old  one.  This  morning,  on  the  main  avenue  directly 
opposite  our  house,  we  saw  them  digging  holes,  and,  on 
inquiring  to-night,  I  found  they  were  mining  the  street. 
Pleasant  little  neighborhood  this  :  As  I  came  home  this 
evening  I  found  them  erecting  a  barricade,  the  other  side 
of  Dr.  Evans'  house,  and  so  in  a  day  or  two  we  shall  be 
between  upper  and  nether  mill-stones,  besides  being  in 
a  capital  position  to  have  a  bomb  fall  upon  us.  I  am  the 
last  man  to  leave  the  neighborhood,  but  I  shall  soon 
have  to  be  getting  out  of  this,  as  I  shall  be  shut  off  from 
getting  here.  But  what  am  I  to  do  with  all  the  furniture 
in  the  house  ?  We  have  a  large  amount.  I  cannot 
move  one  half  of  it,  and  the  chances  are  the  whole  con- 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  151 

cern  will  be  destroyed,  and  that  we  shall  never  again 
enjoy  our  delightful  home,  one  of  the  pleasantest  in  all 
Paris.  I  shall  take  away  some  of  the  most  valuable 
things  and  leave  the  balance  to  take  their  chances." 

On  September  2gth,  the  iith  day  of  the  siege,  I  first 
alluded  in  my  diary,  to  the  magnificent  weather  that  we 
were  having  in  Paris  at  that  time.  I  described  that  after 
breakfast  I  walked  to  see  the  new  defence  thrown  across 
the  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice  about  one  hundred  feet  from 
the  rampart.  I  said  that  it  would  prove  formidable  and 
that  the  soldiers  were  still  throwing  up  the  defence  that 
I  had  spoken  of  the  day  before,  and  that  I  should  soon 
be  completely  blockaded,  so  that  I  should  have  to  leave 
in  a  day  or  two  for  other  quarters.  I  was  then  fortunate 
enough  to  receive  a  cordial  invitation  from  a  German 
friend,  Leopold  Huffer,  to  have  myself  and  my  son,  who 
was  then  stopping  with  me,  go  down  and  stay  with  him 
at  his  hotel,  No.  18  Rue  de  Londres.  Mr.  Huffer  had 
been  a  long  time  resident  in  Paris  and  for  many  years 
had  been  a  contractor  to  furnish  large  amounts  of  tobacco 
to  the  French  government.  He  had  lived  many  years  in 
New  York  and  was  well  acquainted  with  American  affairs, 
and  a  most  intelligent  and  accomplished  gentleman.  He 
had  a  magnificent  hotel,  and  his  family  were  all  away. 
He  was  kind  enough  to  think  that  in  the  days  of  the  siege 
our  company  might  be  agreeable.  All  that  day  I  was 
busy  at  the  legation  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
After  that  hour  I  went  down  into  the  heart  of  the  town, 
—which  might  be  considered  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Grand  Hotel, — but  found  no  news  of  any  interest  or  im- 
portance. On  the  subsequent  day,  which  was  the  i2th 
day  of  the  siege,  we  heard  very  heavy  cannonading  all 
the  morning.  After  breakfast  I  walked  out  towards  the 
fortifications,  but  no  one  there  knew  anything  about  what 


1 52  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

was  going  on.  From  there  I  went  to  the  legation,  and 
was  occupied  until  one  o'clock.  After  that,  accompanied 
by  a  friend,  I  went  in  search  of  news,  first  to  the  Minis- 
try of  the  Interior,  but  heard  nothing  satisfactory  there  ; 
then  I  went  out  in  the  direction  of  the  forts,  Montrouge 
and  Bicetre,  where  we  heard  firing.  We  passed  through 
the  Latin  Quarter  and  the  old  palace  of  the  Caesars  and 
by  the  Quartier  Gobelin.  Then  we  went  through  the 
Avenue  d'ltalie,  and  even  out  to  the  fortifications.  At 
this  time  the  Avenue  d'ltalie  was  a  very  hard  part  of 
the  city,  and  the  street  was  crowded  with  people  of  the 
very  lowest  class.  We  met  several  regiments  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard  marching  into  town  accompanied  by  a  dis- 
mal procession  of  thieves,  beggars  and  marauders,  who 
had  been  arrested  and  were  on  their  way  to  be  tried  by 
a  drum-head  court  martial.  Some  of  them  were  probably 
summarily  disposed  of.  We  saw  a  wine  shop  that  had 
been  smashed,  and  upon  inquiring,  learned  that  a  poor 
wounded  soldier  had  asked  for  a  glass  of  wine  that  morn- 
ing and  that  the  proprietor  charged  him  ten  sous.  This 
little  incident  showed  that  human  nature  is  really  the 
same  everywhere,  among  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  It  was  revolting  to  the  mind  of  those 
common  people  that  a  wounded  soldier  should  have  to 
pay  ten  sous  for  a  glass  of  poor  wine.  The  populace 
walked  into  the  wine  shop  and  gutted  the  establishment, 
and  the  verdict  was  "served  it  right."  We  then  went  to 

o 

the  head-quarters  in  the  neighborhood,  to  get  at  the  truth 
in  regard  to  the  fight  in  the  morning,  and  an  intelligent 
young  officer  gave  us.  as  it  proved  to  be,  a  very  correct 
account  of  what  had  really  taken  place. 

We  returned  to  the  legation  and  remained  there  until 
five  o'clock  P.M.,  then  rode  down  to  the  Palais  de  1' Indus- 
trie, at  that  time  a  large  hospital,  where  the  wounded 


THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE.  153 

had  been  brought  in.  There  I  learned  more  ot  the  de- 
tails of  the  fight  in  the  morning.  The  French  had  made 
a  sortie  and  attacked  two  or  three  little  towns  with  great 
courage  and  spirit,  and  actually  took  one  or  two,  and 
held  them  for  a  short  time  against  immense  forces. 
When  driven  by  overwhelming  numbers  to  retire  they 
marched  back  like  troops  on  parade.  That  was  the  story 
of  the  French  ;  but  their  losses  had  been  heavy,  some 
five  hundred  killed  and  fifteen  hundred  wounded.  Going 
into  the  hospital,  among  the  wounded,  I  met  Nelaton, 
the  greatest  surgeon  in  Europe,  a  very  unpretending 
and  plain-looking  man  of  about  sixty.  The  truth  of  the 
matter  was  that  while  not  much  had  been  accomplished, 
the  soldiers  showed  dash  and  spirit,  which  justified  the 
highest  hopes  of  the  future.  The  wounded  soldiers 
were  all  in  the  best  of  spirits,  which  was  considered  a 
good  sign  ;  the  French  were  evidently  inspired  with  fresh 
hopes,  and  they  believed  that  their  own  loved  France 
would  yet  be  saved,  and  that  the  French  soldiers  would 
vindicate  the  ancient  prestige  and  glory  of  the  country. 

Even  at  that  time,  the  i2th  day  of  the  siege,  fresh 
meat  had  become  scarce  and  the  butcher-shops  were  sur- 
rounded by  people  in  a  riotous  spirit.  Bread  was  al- 
ways abundant  and  cheap.  Great  stocks  had  been  laid 
in  by  the  government.  A  friend  told  me  on  that  day 
that  he  saw  in  one  immense  building,  five  thousand  bar- 
rels of  Minnesota  flour  in  store.  Forage  was  getting 
very  scarce,  and  horses  were  already  put  on  a  short  allow- 
ance. Then,  there  began  to  be  talk  about  killing  horses 
for  food,  and  it  was  estimated  that  about  forty  thousand 
of  them  would  have  to  go  for  that  purpose.  Then  the 
horses  began  to  be  thrown  on  the  market  and  were  sold 
at  auction.  A  man  had  nothing  to  feed  horses  on  if  he 
bought  them,  and  of  course  there  was  no  object  in  buy- 


154 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


ing.  I  went  to  an  auction  about  that  time  and -saw  five 
horses  sold  for  from  five  to  eight  dollars  a  head.  Many 
people  were  anxious  to  give  away  their  horses  if  they 
could  only  be  persuaded  that  they  might  be  saved  from 
starvation. 

On  October  ist,  the  I3th  day  of  the  siege,  all  was 
quiet  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  The  weather  was  still 
beautiful,  and  I  thought  I  had  never  in  my  life  seen  such 
beautiful  days  as  we  had  been  having  all  through  the 
past  month.  I  recorded  the  menu  for  breakfast  on  that 
day,  which  I  considered  very  good  for  starvation  times. 
It  consisted  of  chicken  hash,  fried  potatoes,  eggs,  rolls, 
butter,  milk,  fruit,  etc.  In  the  evening  I  recorded  that 
I  had  ridden  about  the  city  a  good  deal  during  the 
day  and  had  visited  the  fortifications  at  two  points.  I 
thought  they  were  amazingly  strong.  They  were  all 
manned  by  sailors — ten  thousand  of  them — and  were 
commanded  by  the  ablest  officers  in  the  French  navy.  I 
had  a  talk  with  two  French  admirals  who  expressed  the 
greatest  confidence  in  being  able  to  defend  Paris  against 
all  comers. 

There  was  an  interesting  incident  on  Sunday,  October 
2d,  the  1 4th  day  of  the  siege.  Before  I  was  dressed  in 
the  morning,  a  servant  brought  to  me  the  card  of  Gen- 
eral Burnside,  of  Rhode  Island,  a  distinguished  officer  in 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  whom  I  had  known  very  well. 
I  dressed  hurriedly,  and  on  going  down  stairs  I  found 
there  the  General  who  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Paul  S. 
Forbes,  who  had  been  for  long  years  a  resident  of  Paris. 
I  was  very  much  surprised,  as  I  certainly  was  most  de- 
lighted, to  see  these  gentlemen,  particularly  as  they  had 
brought  in  my  despatch  bag  from  London.  General 
Burnside  also  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  Count 
Bismarck  to  Jules  Favre.  As  I  knew  M.  Favre  would 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  155 

like  to  talk  with  these  gentlemen,  who  had  just  come 
through  the  Prussian  lines,  I  sent  him  word  that  they 
were  at  my  house.  He  called  at  noon  and  had  an  inter- 
esting conversation  with  General  Burnside  and  Mr. 
Forbes.  After  M.  Favre  had  left,  General  Trochu's  car- 
riage came  to  the  house  to  take  General  Burnside  to  ride 
over  the  city.  The  General,  never  having  been  in  Paris 
before,  and  the  day  being  beautiful,  he  enjoyed  the  drive 
very  much.  We  called  on  General  Trochu  in  the  course 
of  the  afternoon.  I  had  never  seen  him  before.  I  found 
him  a  little,  brisk,  bald-headed  man,  who  was  exceedingly 
polite  and  courteous.  I  asked  M.  Favre,  just  before 
leaving,  what  news  he  had  from  Tours.  He  answered 
with  ominous  sadness,  "  Malheureusement,  (a  ne  va  pas 
bien"  That  meant  a  great  deal,  and  I  was  satisfied  that 
if  the  French  did  not  get  up  an  outside  army  very  soon, 
all  would  be  up  with  them.  I  noticed  that  Favre  was 
greatly  oppressed  and  the  gentlemen  who  were  with  me 
noticed  it  also. 

This  despatch  bag,  which  came  from  London,  and 
which  General  Burnside  brought  in  to  me,  contained 
New  York  papers  to  September  icth  and  London  papers 
to  the  23d.  I  always  devoured,  with  great  avidity,  the 
contents  of  my  despatch  bag.  As  General  Burnside  and 
Mr.  Forbes  were  the  first  persons  who  had  come  to  Paris 
from  the  outside  for  two  weeks,  their  presence  created  a 
great  deal  of  excitement.  General  Burnside  was  a  man 
of  striking  and  imposing  presence,  and  he  had  a  military 
bearing  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Parisians. 
Mr.  Forbes  was  also  a  large  man,  of  courtly  presence  and 
fine  manners.  On  the  whole,  these  two  American  gen- 
tlemen were  compatriots  of  whom  I  could  well  feel 
proud. 

On  Monday,  October  3d,  the   I5th  day  of  the  siege,  I 


156  THE  FIRST   WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

was  very  busy  in  preparing  letters  and  despatches  to  go 
by  the  bag  which  was  to  be  taken  out  by  General  Burn- 
side.  It  was  arranged  that  he  and  Mr.  Forbes  should 
leave  my  house  to  go  through  the  Prussian  lines  at  noon  ; 
but  they  did  not  get  away  until  nearly  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  General  Trochu  was  kind  enough  to  send 
one  of  his  aides  with  his  carriage  to  take  them  to  the 
lines.  I  accompanied  these  gentlemen.  We  went 
through  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  entering  by  the  Avenue 
of  the  Grand  Army. 

On  our  way  we  stopped  to  see  General  Ducrot,  who 
was  at  his  head-quarters  just  outside  the  ramparts.  Du- 
crot had  been  a  General  of  Division,  and  escaped  from 
Sedan  after  being  taken  prisoner.  The  Germans  charged 
him  with  having  violated  his  parole,  but  the  friends  of  the 
General  said  that  he  had  given  up  his  parole,  and  notified 
the  German  military  officers  that  he  would  get  away  if  he 
could,  and  the  Germans  replied  that  they  would  like  to 
see  him  try  it.  And  he  did  try  it.  He  procured  a  peas- 
ant's cap  and  pair  of  old  pantaloons  and  a  blouse  ;  and 
watching  his  opportunity,  he  cut  off  his  beard,  donned 
his  peasant's  suit,  put  some  dirt  on  his  face,  and,  with  a 
basket  of  potatoes  on  his  arm,  he  managed  to  get  away 
and  reach  Paris,  where  he  was  at  once  intrusted  with  a 
high  command.  But  I  think  the  Germans  always  con- 
tended that  he  violated  his  parole.  I  noticed  that  when 
we  called  upon  him  he  did  not  seem  to  be  very  much  at 
his  ease,  and  he  was  not  as  polite  as  Frenchmen  gener- 
ally are.  Indeed,  he  left  on  me  anything  but  a  pleasant 
impression. 

On  entering  the  Bois,  we  saw  the  destruction  of  the 
timber  and  the  extent  of  the  work  that  had  been  done  to 
strengthen  the  defences.  We  passed  entirely  through 
the  wood  and  into  the  village  of  Boulogne-sur-Seine,  and 


THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


157 


through  the  village  to  the  bridge  of  Sevres,  which  leads 
over  the  Seine  to  Sevres.  The  river  was  the  dividing 
line  between  the  hostile  forces.  One  span  of  the  bridge 


Transfer  of  General    Burnside  and   Mr.    Forbes  at  the   Bridge  of  Sevres. 

had  been  blown  up.  We  displayed  our  flag  of  truce  at 
one  end  of  the  bridge.  A  truce-flag  was  displayed  in  re- 
sponse to  ours,  and  the  parlementaire  came  up  within  easy 


158  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

speaking  distance.  Owing  to  some  mistake,  we  had  to 
wait  two  hours  and  a  half  before  the  order  came  to  re- 
ceive our  friends  in  the  Prussian  lines,  and  it  was  not  un- 
til five  o'clock  when  a  little  steam  tug,  with  a  white  flag 
at  the  fore,  took  Burnside  and  Forbes  to  the  other  side 
of  the  river.  With  great  courtesy,  General  Trochu's 
aide  delivered  his  charge  into  the  hands  of  a  Prussian 
major. 

About  half  past  five  we,  my  son  and  myself,  started  from 
the  bridge  of  Sevres  on  our  return  to  Paris.  We  went 

o 

directly  to  the  house  of  our  friend,  Mr.  H  Offer,  which  was 
to  be  our  home  for  some  weeks.  We  found  one  con- 
tinued succession  of  defences  from  the  Seine  to  the  walls 
of  the  city.  But  after  all,  it  was  known  to  men  who  had 
studied  the  defences  carefully  that  these  were  really  of  no 
account,  if  the  Prussians  should,  at  any  time,  get  posses- 
sion of  one  of  the  forts  which  surrounded  the  city,  from 
which  they  could  bombard  it.  The  Prussians  at  that 
time  occupied  the  heights  of  St.  Cloud  and  the  village  of 
St.  Cloud  on  the  other  side  of  the  Seine.  They  were  in 
the  Palace  of  St.  Cloud,  which  had  been  designated  as 
the  residence  of  the  Empress,  when  the  Emperor  and 
"  Louis"  went  off  to  the  war.  Just  before  the  Emperor 
left,  I  went  to  this  palace,  in  my  official  capacity,  to 
"  inscribe,"  as  they  call  it,  which  was  a  sort  of  necessary 
ceremony  imposed  on  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  Little  did 
I  dream,  at  that  time,  that  the  Prussians  would  so  soon 
be  occupying  that  grand  old  palace. 

The  call  for  a  second  meeting  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
was  made  for  the  4th  of  October,  1870.  The  principal 
matter  discussed  at  this  meeting  was  a  communication 

o 

from  Count  Bismarck  to  Jules  Favre  in  relation  to  a 
notice  of  bombardment  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  in 
respect  to  their  sending  out  despatches  to  their  govern- 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  159 

ments.  I  give  below  the  proces  verbal  of  the  meeting, 
by  which  it  is  seen  there  was  much  feeling  excited  by  the 
character  of  Count  Bismarck's  despatch  and  his  require- 
ment that  only  unsealed  despatches  from  the  diplomatic 
representatives  to  their  governments,  would  be  permit- 
ted to  go  through  the  Prussian  lines.  In  this  meeting  I 
said  I  would  reject,  instantly,  any  concession  of  a  courier 
coupled  with  the  condition  that  my  despatches  should  go 
unsealed  ;  that  I  would  not  write  a  despatch  to  my  gov- 
ernment which  would  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  any  other  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
At  this  meeting  a  committee  was  appointed  to  agree 
upon  an  answer  to  be  made  to  Count  Bismarck,  and  their 
action  is  set  out  in  the  following  communication  : 

o 

In  accordance  with  a  previous  notice,  the  diplomatic  corps  met  at 
the  residence  of  the  Pope's  Nuncio  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Tuesday,  the 
4th  day  of  October,  1870.  Twenty-one  members  of  the  corps  were 
present. 

The  Nuncio  reported  to  the  meeting  that,  in  pursuance  of  the  previous 
action  of  the  body,  he  had  seen  Mr.  Jules  Favre,  and  had  verbally  re- 
quested him  to  communicate  with  Count  Bismarck  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining,  first,  whether  he  would  give  notice  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
of  a  bombardment  ;  and,  second,  whether  he  would  permit  a  courier  to 
pass  the  Prussian  military  lines  to  take  out  and  bring  in  official  de- 
spatches for  the  members  of  the  body.  After  a  long  delay  M.  Jules 
Favre  had  received  the  response  of  Count  Bismarck,  the  substance  of 
which  he  had  in  his  hands  and  would  read.  As  to  "the  first  matter, 
Count  Bismarck  said  that  he  was  unable  at  the  moment  to  state  what 
the  necessities  of  the  war  might  require  ;  and,  touching  the  request  for 
a  courier,  he  would  allow  one  to  pass  the  lines  once  a  week  to  bear  offi- 
cial despatches,  provided  such  despatches  should  not  be  sealed  and  have 
no  reference  to  the  war.  The  Nuncio  said  the  first  answer  was  evasive, 
and  that  the  condition  imposed  in  relation  to  the  manner  of  sending 
despatches  would  render  it  impossible  for  the  diplomatic  body  to  avail 
themselves  of  Count  Bismarck's  offer. 

Mr.  Kern,  the  minister  from  Switzerland,  said  there  had  been  a  mis- 
apprehension as  to  the  communication  to  Count  Bismarck.  It  should 


i6o  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

not  have  been  a  communication  by  Jules  Favre  to  Bismarck,  but  the 
Nuncio  should,  as  the  organ  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  have  written  direct 
to  him  and  sent  it  through  Favre  as  the  intermediary.  In  regard  to  the 
inquiry  which  had  been  directed  to  Count  Bismarck  touching  the  bom- 
bardment, he  certainly  should  have  strongly  protested  against  it.  The 
Diplomatic  Corps  had  a  right  by  the  laws  of  war  to  a  notice  of  bombard- 
ment, and  the  body  had  been  placed  in  a  false  position  by  requesting 
something  which  they  had  a  right  to  without  asking  for  it. 

Baron  Beyens,  the  Belgian  minister,  expressed  himself  as  not  being 
very  clear  in  regard  to  the  questions  which  had  been  raised  ;  some  of 
the  people  in  the  foreign  office  had  told  him  that  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
had  no  right  to  a  notice  of  bombardment.  Mr.  Kern  replied  he  con- 
sidered such  opinions  of  no  value  ;  he  had  himself  studied  the  question, 
and  he  had  no  doubts  on  the  subject.  He  would  further  say,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  courier,  that,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  due  to  their  respective 
governments,  the  Diplomatic  Corps  had  a  right  to  be  advised  by  the 
Prussian  authorities  of  their  intention  to  cut  off  their  communications 
with  their  governments.  Baron  de  Zuylen  de  Nyevelt,  minister  of  Hol- 
land, said  the  Prussian  authorities  ought  to  be  informed  at  once  of  the 
presence  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  in  Paris,  and  that  they  rejected  the 
offer  of  a  courier  on  the  terms  proposed. 

Mr.  P.  Galvez,  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  from 
Peru,  said  that  body  owed  it  to  the  countries  they  represented,  to  the 
dignity  of  the  diplomatic  service,  as  well  as  to  themselves,  to  respond 
negatively  to  Count  Bismarck's  proposition  to  have  their  official  corre- 
spondence sent  unsealed. 

Mr.  Washburne,  minister  of  the  United  States,  said  there  seemed  to 
have  been  a  misapprehension  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  commu- 
nication sent  by  Mr.  Jules  Favre,  on  behalf  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  to 
Count  Bismarck.  He  had  not  understood  that  a  request  had  been  sent 
to  have  notice  given  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps  when  the  bombardment 
would  take  place.  He  conceived  that  no  such  request  should  have 
been  made,  for  the  diplomatic  body  had  a  right  to  that  notice  without 
asking  for  it.  He  would  further  reject  instantly  any  concession  of  a 
courier  coupled  with  the  condition  that  his  despatches  should  go  un- 
sealed. He  would  not  write  a  despatch  to  his  government  which  would 
have  to  be  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  any  other  government  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Kern,  Baron  de  Zuylen  de  Nyevelt,  and  Mr.  Washburne  were 
then  joined  to  the  Nuncio,  as  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  communication, 
to  be  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  corps  in  Paris,  to  be  sent  to 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  161 

Count  Bismarck ;  the  same  to  be  submitted  to  a  future  meeting  for  ap- 
proval. 

OCTOBER  5,  1870. 


Mr.  Kern,  Baron  de  Nyevelt,  and  Mr.  Washburne  met  at  the  residence 
of  the  Nuncio,  at  2  o'clock  P.M.,  to  agree  upon  the  answer  to  be  made  to 
Count  Bismarck.  Mr.  Kern  submitted  the  projet  of  an  answer,  which 
was  agreed  to,  and  the  Nuncio  was  requested  to  notify  the  members  of 
the  diplomatic  body  to  meet  at  his  residence  the  next  day,  at  1 1  o'clock 
A.M.,  to  act  upon  it  and  to  sign  it  if  it  met  their  views. 

OCTOBER  6,  1870. 


The  members  of  the  diplomatic  body  met  in  accordance  with  the  no- 
tice given  by  the  Nuncio  yesterday.  The  committee  submitted  the 
answer  to  Count  Bismarck  that  had  been  drawn  up,  which  was  unani- 
mously agreed  to  and  signed  by  all  the  members. 

The  communication  is  hereto  annexed. 

Diplomatic  Corps  to  Count  Bismarck. 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  residing  at  Paris, 
had  the  honor  to  send  to  Your  Excellency,  on  the  24th  of  September 
last,  the  expression  of  their  wish,  that  a  courier,  carrying  their  official 
despatches,  might  pass  the  lines  of  the  besieging  army  every  week  on 
days  to  be  hereafter  named,  and  proceed  to  some  point  whence  a  regu- 
lar postal  communication  could  be  assured. 

The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  France  has  informed  us,  by  a  letter 
of  October  3,  that  he  had  the  day  before  received  as  the  reply  of  Your 
Excellency,  "  that  a  diplomatic  courier  could  not  pass  the  lines  of  the 
besieging  troops  except  upon  condition  that  the  despatches  be  unsealed 
and  treat  of  no  subject  relating  to  the  war." 

We  should  have  made  it  a  duty,  as  regards  the  contents  of  our  de- 
spatches, to  conform  scrupulously  to  the  obligations  imposed  during  a 
siege  upon  diplomatic  agents  by  the  rules  and  usages  of  international 
law. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  position  as  diplomatic  agents,  and  our  obli- 
gations toward  our  governments,  do  not  permit  us  to  accept  the  other 
condition,  viz.,  to  address  to  them  unsealed  despatches  only. 

If  this  last  condition  is  to  be  maintained,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the 


1 62      THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

diplomatic  representatives  of  the  neutral  states,  to  their  deep  regret,  to 
keep  up  official  communication  with  their  respective  governments. 

Receive,  sir,  the  assurance  of,  £c.,  £c.,  &c. 

PARIS,  October  6,  1870. 

On  the  Qth  of  October,  I  addressed  the  following  official 
despatch  to  the  State  Department  at  Washington  : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
PARIS,   October  9,  1870.     \  Received  November  9.) 

SIR  :  I  came  to  the  legation  late  last  night  to  write  you  a  despatch  to 
send  out  by  the  minister  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  who  was  to 
have  left  this  morning.  On  my  arrival  I  was  both  surprised  and  grati- 
fied to  learn  that  General  Burnside  and  Mr.  Forbes  had  returned  to  the 
city.  They  very  soon  afterward  reported  themselves  and  explained  the 
reason  of  their  visit.  In  several  interviews  with  Count  Bismarck,  he 
expressed  the  idea  that  it  would  be  well  to  have  certain  suggestions  con- 
veyed to  Mr.  Jules  Favre  in  relation  to  an  armistice,  for  the  purpose  of 
enabling  the  French  people  to  elect  a  Constituent  Assembly.  You  will 
recollect  that  was  the  matter  which  was  talked  of  in  the  interview  be- 
tween Favre  and  Bismarck,  and  that  the  former  rejected  it  because  it 
was  insisted  that,  as  a  condition  to  such  an  armistice,  the  Prussian  army 
should  have  possession  of  some  of  the  forts  about  Paris.  It  is  evident 
that  both  powers  desire  a  convention  of  the  people  of  France  ;  Prussia, 
because  she  wants  a  more  substantial  power  to  treat  with  than  the  pres- 
ent provisional  government ;  France,  because  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence  do  not  want  to  take  the  responsibility  of  making  a 
treaty,  but  desire  that  any  treaty  to  be  made  should  be  made  by  a  power 
emanating  directly  from  the  whole  people,  acting  through  a  Constituent 
Assembly.  Count  Bismarck  authorized  General  Burnside  to  suggest  to 
M.  Jules  Favre  that  he  would  yield  the  question  of  the  forts  and  would 
grant  an  absolute  armistice  of  forty-eight  hours  for  holding  an  election, 
and  give  every  facility  for  a  fair  election,  for  the  distribution  of  tickets 
and  circulars,  for  a  committee  to  go  out  of  Paris,  as  well  as  for  the  de- 
parture of  the  members  elected  from  the  city  of  Paris,  and  to  render 
themselves  wherever  the  convention  should  be  held,  &c.  In  addition, 
it  was  suggested  that  a  sort  of  semi-armistice  might  be  agreed  upon,  to 
extend  over  a  sufficient  time  to  permit  the  convention  to  be  held  ;  that 
is  to  say,  there  should  be  no  firing  ;  but  that  the  Prussians  should  be 
permitted  to  bring  up  their  guns  and  provisions,  and  that  everything  in 
Paris  should  remain  /'//  statu  quo. 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  163 

I  accompanied  the  two  gentlemen  this  morning  to  see  M.  Jules 
Favre,  and  we  had  an  interview  of  an  hour.  The  whole  subject  was 
gone  over,  and  M.  Favre  stated  the  objections  to  Count  Bismarck's 
suggestions.  He  is,  however,  to  see  his  colleagues  on  the  subject  to- 
night, and  we  are  to  have  another  interview  with  him  to-morrow  morn- 
ing in  season.  I  hope  to  give  you  an  account  of  it  before  General  Burn- 
side  shall  leave  to-morrow  noon.  I  trust  some  starting  point  may  be 
found,  so  that  negotiations  with  a  view  to  peace  may  be  entered  upon. 
In  accordance  with  your  instructions,  if  both  parties  shall  signify  a  de- 
sire for  the  good  offices  of  our  government  disconnected  with  the  Eu- 
ropean powers,  I  shall  feel  authorized  to  extend  them  in  a  proper  man- 
ner. 

MONDAY  NOON,   October  10,   1870. 

I  have  this  moment  returned  from  a  long  interview  between  General 
Burnside  and  Mr.  Forbes,  Mr.  Jules  Favre  and  General  Trochu.  As 
the  flag  of  truce  is  waiting  to  take  our  countrymen  into  the  Prussian 
lines,  I  have  time  to  say  but  one  word,  and  that  is,  that  the  parties  are 
a  long  way  apart,  and  that  there  is  hardly  a  possibility  that  anything 
will  be  accomplished.  The  door,  however,  is  left  open,  and  it  is  barely 
possible  that  something  may  be  accomplished  in  the  future. 
I  have,  &c., 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

On  the  1 8th  of  the  same  month  I  addressed  another 
communication  to  the  State  department,  (more  particu- 
larly in  relation  to  the  despatch,)  which  is  as  follows  : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
PARIS,   October  18,   1870.     (Received  November  S.) 

SIR  :  I  have  not  had  the  honor  to  receive  from  you  any  commu- 
nication since  the  last  despatch  I  addressed  to  you,  No.  303,  and 
dated  the  pth  instant,  and  which  I  sent  out  by  General  Burnside.  I 
had  go  out  with  the  general  the  messenger  of  this  legation,  Antoine 
Schmidt,  with  the  expectation  that  the  Prussian  authorities  would  per- 
mit him  to  go  to  London  with  the  bag  and  bring  back  to  me  here  the 
bags  for  this  legation  that  have  arrived  there  within  the  last  three  or 
four  weeks.  I  may  here  state  that  I  have  nothing  from  the  Depart- 
ment since  the  8th  ultimo.  How  much  longer  I  am  to  remain  with- 
out instructions,  advice,  or  communication  from  my  government,  I 
cannot  tell.  My  messenger  went  as  far  as  Versailles,  near  the  Prus- 


1 64  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

sian  headquarters,  and  although  General  Burnside  urged  that  he 
might  be  permitted  to  go  to  London  with  the  bag  and  return,  bringing 
back  other  bags,  permission  was  refused.  The  Prussian  authorities 
would  permit  him  to  go  to  London  with  the  bag  but  they  would  not 
allow  him  to  return.  In  obedience  to  my  instructions  he  did  not  go  on, 
but  returned  to  Paris  last  Friday  night.  General  Burnside  sent  word 
by  him  that  he  would  take  charge  of  the  bag  himself  and  deliver  it  in 
London. 

I  have  kept  you  fully  advised  as  to  what  the  Diplomatic  Corps  has 
done  in  relation  to  keeping  up  communication  with  their  respective 
governments.  With  what  I  have  sent  you  and  with  what  you  will  have 
received  from  the  Prussian  Government,  you  will  have  had  the  whole 
case  before  you. 

Since  my  last  despatch,  I  have  received  from  Count  Bismarck  the 
letter,  a  copy  of  which  I  send  herewith,  marked  i.  I  send  also  a  copy 
of  a  letter  from  the  Count  to  the  Pope's  Nuncio,  marked  2,  which  I  pre- 
sume you  have  also  received  from  the  Prussian  Government.  I  further 
send  the  circular  of  M.  von  Thile,  marked  3. 

You  will  perceive  that  Count  Bismarck,  in  his  very  friendly  and 
courteous  note  to  me,  declares  his  readiness  to  have  my  despatches  to 
my  government  conveyed  by  his  weekly  messengers  to  London,  to  be 
delivered  in  the  manner  designated,  &c.  I  presume  it  is  implied  that 
his  messengers  should  bring  the  despatches  of  my  government  to  me. 
If  not,  the  concession  has  little  value.  The  permission  accorded  to  me 
by  Count  Bismarck  is  on  account  of  the  anomalous  position  I  occupy 
toward  the  Prussian  government,  and  is  not  conceded  as  a  matter  of 
right.  I  have  made  no  answer  to  that  part  of  the  Count's  letter,  leaving 
it  to  be  determined  by  you,  unembarrassed  by  anything  I  may  have 
said,  how  far  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  claim  the  abso- 
lute right  to  communicate  with  its  representative  to  a  friendly  power, 
situated  as  I  am. 

1  have,  «Scc., 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 

Count  Bismarck  wrote  to  me  a  special  communication 
on  that  subject,  as  he  considered  that  the  position  which 
I  occupied  in  Paris  was  different  from  the  positions 
occupied  by  other  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  subject  was  not  so  serious  to  him  as 
to  prevent  him  from  indulging  in  a  bit  of  pleasantry.  A 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE.  165 

friend  of  mine  in  Paris,  who  had  relations  with  Cuba,  had 
been  kind  enough  to  present  me  with  several  boxes  of 
genuine  Havana  cigars,  and  one  of  these  boxes  I  had  sub- 
sequently sent  to  Count  Bismarck,  and  in  his  acknowl- 
edgment he  stated  that  his  liberality  in  permitting  Gen- 
eral Burnside  and  Mr.  Forbes  to  pass  through  his  lines 
had  been  rewarded  by  the  excellent  cigars  I  had  been 
kind  enough  to  send  him. 

Count  Bismarck  to  Mr.  Washburne. 

VERSAILLES,  October  10,  1870. 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  The  exceptional  position  you  occupy  makes  it 
incumbent  on  me  to  give  you  an  answer  separate  and  different  from  that 
I  am  going  to  return  to  the  other  diplomats  who  have  signed  the  collec- 
tive letter  of  the  6th  instant,  on  the  subject  of  communication  with  their 
respective  governments.  You  have  been  good  enough,  in  compliance 
with  the  desire  of  your  government,  to  take  upon  yourself  the  official 
protection  of  the  Germans  residing  in  France.  For  this  reason  alone  I 
should  not  have  sent  off  my  answer  without  adding  the  expression  of 
my  sincere  thanks  for  the  zeal  and  good-will  you  have  bestowed  upon 
the  very  troublesome  task  of  assisting  my  unfortunate  countrymen  ex- 
pelled by  the  French  in  glaring  contradiction  to  the  usages  of  civilized 
nations. 

As  to  the  subject  in  question,  I  regret  that  reasons  of  a  military  char- 
acter should  make  it  absolutely  impossible  to  allow,  as  a  rule,  messen- 
gers to  pass  through  our  lines,  considering  that  it  is  not  in  the  power 
of  even  the  most  honorable  correspondent  to  make  himself  responsible 
for  what  the  messenger  may  bear  or  communicate,  besides  what  he  is 
authorized  to  carry. 

We  cannot  but  maintain  the  principle  set  forth  in  my  letter  to  M. 
Jules  Favre,  of  the  z6th  of  last  month,  a  translation  of  which  you  find 
in  the  inclosed  copy  of  the  North  German  Correspondent.  I  beg  fur- 
ther to  add  a  translation  of  a  circular  of  M.  von  Thile,  bearing  upon  the 
same  subject.  With  respect  to  the  American  embassy,  however,  it  being 
accredited  already  with  the  French  Republic,  and  officially  charged 
with  the  representation  of  our  interests,  the  case  is  different,  and  I 
willingly  declare  my  readiness  to  have  any  despatches  they  may  address 
to  their  respective  governments,  conveyed  by  our  weekly  messengers  to 
the  embassy  of  the  United  States  in  London,  provided  the  despatches 


1 66  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  ^ 

be  delivered  by  the  French  outposts  to  ours  under  flag  of  truce.  It  is 
the  individual  character  of  our  relation  with  the  American  embassy  which 
has  caused  us  already  to  allow  Mr.  Burnside  and  Mr.  Forbes  to  go  there 
and  back,  between  this  and  Paris,  both  of  them  being  gentlemen  whose 
loyalty  removes  every  apprehension  as  to  any  misuse  of  that  privilege. 
Perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  avail  myself  of  the  present  opportunity 
to  state  that  this  liberality  of  ours  has  been  rewarded  by  those  excellent 
cigars  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send  me.  I  pray  Your  Excellency 
to  receive  the  assurance  of  the  very  high  regard  and  most  distinguished 
consideration  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Your  humble,  obedient  servant, 

BISMARCK. 

In  the  interest  of  the  history  of  the  times,  and  as  illus- 
trating the  embarrassment  of  the  state  of  things  which  had 
arisen,  growing  out  of  the  siege  of  Paris,  I  insert  the  let- 
ter of  Count  Bismarck  to  the  papal  Nuncio  : 

VERSAILLES,  October  10.  1:870. 

SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  letter  of  the  6th  of 
October,  by  which  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  still  residing 
at  Paris  have  seen  fit  to  inform  me  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them 
to  keep  up  official  correspondence  with  their  respective  governments  if 
the  condition  prescribing  that  they  should  forward  only  open  despatches 
should  be  insisted  upon. 

When  the  continuation  of  the  siege  of  Paris  was  rendered  inevitable 
by  the  refusal  of  an  armistice  by  the  French  Government,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  King,  of  its  own  motion,  by  a  circular  note  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  M.  von  Thile,  of  the  26th  September  last  (of  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  send  you  a  copy),  notified  the  agents  of  the  neutral  powers  ac- 
credited to  Berlin  that  liberty  of  communication  with  Paris  would  exist 
henceforth  only  so  far  as  military  events  would  permit.  The  same  day 
I  received  at  Ferrieres  a  communication  from  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence,  which  informed  me 
of  the  wish  expressed  by  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  to  be  au- 
thorized to  send  their  despatches  to  their  governments  by  weekly  cou- 
riers, and  I  did  not  hesitate,  in  conformity  with  the  rules  of  international 
law,  to  make  a  reply,  dictated  by  the  necessities  of  the  military  situ- 
ation ;  a  copy  of  which  I  also  transmit  to  Your  Excellency.  The  repre- 
sentatives of  the  present  power  (government  ?)  have  seen  fit  to  establish 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  167 

the  seat  of  their  government  in  the  midst  of  the  fortifications  of 
Paris,  and  to  choose  that  city  and  its  environs  as  the  theatre  of  the 
war.  If  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  who  have  been  ac- 
credited to  a  preceding  government  have  decided  to  share  with  the 
government  of  the  National  Defence  the  inconveniences  inseparable 
from  a  residence  in  a  besieged  fortress,  it  is  not  the  government  of 
the  King  which  is  responsible  for  it. 

Whatever  may  be  our  confidence  that  the  signers  of  the  letter  of 
October  6  would  conform,  in  their  communications  addressed  to  their 
governments,  to  the  obligations  which  their  presence  in  a  besieged 
fortress  imposes  upon  the  diplomatic  agents  according  to  the  laws  of 
war,  we  must  provide  for  the  possibility  that  the  importance  of  cer- 
tain facts  in  a  military  point  of  view  may  escape  them.  It  is  evi- 
dent, too,  that  they  cannot  furnish  us  the  same  guarantees  for  the 
messengers  whom  they  may  employ,  and  whom  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  let  pass  and  repass  through  our  lines. 

There  has  been  created  at  Paris  a  state  of  things  to  which  mod- 
ern history  furnishes  no  precise  analogy  in  the  point  of  view  of  in- 
ternational law.  A  government  at  war  with  a  power  which  has  not 
yet  recognized  it,  shuts  itself  up  in  a  besieged  fortress,  and  finds  it- 
self there  surrounded  by  a  part  of  the  diplomatists  who  were  ac- 
credited to  a  government  which  has  been  superseded  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence. 

In  presence  of  a  situation  so  irregular  it  is  difficult  to  establish,  on 
the  basis  of  the  law  of  nations,  rules  which  should  be  free  from 
doubt  in  all  points  of  view.  I  hope  that  Your  Excellency  will  not 
fail  to  recognize  the  justness  of  these  observations,  and  will  appre- 
ciate the  considerations  which  prevent  me,  to  my  great  regret,  from 
consenting  to  the  wish  expressed  in  the  letter  of  the  6th  of  October. 
If,  however,  the  signers  cannot  admit  the  justness  of  these  consider- 
ations, the  governments  which  they  represent  at  Paris,  and  to  which 
I  shall  hasten  to  communicate  this  correspondence,  will  consult  on 
their  side,  and  will  put  themselves  in  communication  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  King  for  an  examination  of  the  questions  of  the  law 
of  nations  which  grow  out  of  the  abnormal  situation  which  events 
and  the  measures  of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  have 
created  at  Paris. 

Receive,  &c., 

BISMARCK. 

Monseigneur  CHIGI, 

Nonce  Apostolique  a  Paris. 


!68      THE  FIRST  WEEKS  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

There  were  a  great  many  peace-makers  about  this  time, 
and  many  suggestions  were  made  by  various  parties  as  to 
how  peace  might  be  brought  about.  There  was  then  liv- 
ing in  Paris  Mr.  John  L.  O'Sullivan,  who,  at  one  time, 
occupied  the  position  of  Minister-Resident  to  Portugal 
durincr  the  administrations,  I  think,  of  Pierce  and  Bu- 

o 

chanan.  He  had  been  the  editor  of  the  Democratic  Re- 
view, and  was  a  polished  and  scholarly  man.  He  be- 
came very  much  interested  in  the  matter  of  peace,  and 
believed  he  could  accomplish  great  things  by  his  personal 
intervention.  He,  therefore,  made  application  to  me  to 
be  put  in  relations  with  Bismarck  and  to  go  through  the 
lines.  Of  course  I  declined  entering  into  his  project. 
But  in  the  meantime,  he  had,  in  some  way,  secured,  as  I 
understood,  a  permission  to  pass  through  the  French  lines, 
and  what  he  wanted  from  me  was  to  get  some  sort  of  a 
paper  which  would  enable  him  to  enter  the  German  lines. 
That  I  declined  to  give.  Then  he  insisted  that  I  should 
give  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  General  Sheridan,  who 
was  known  to  be  with  the  German  army.  As  he  asked  for 
a  mere  general  letter  of  introduction,  having,  of  course, 
no  official  or  other  significance,  and  being  an  American 
gentleman  who  had  held  a  high  official  position  abroad,  I 
could  not  decline  his  request.  But  had  I  had  the  least 
thought  of  the  use  he  was  going  to  make  of  the  letter,  I 
should  not  have  given  it  to  him.  The  letter  was  as  follows  : 

PARIS,  September  10,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

I  beg  leave  to  introduce  to  you,  the  Hon.  J.  L.  O'Sullivan,  United 
States  Minister-Resident  to  Portugal  under  Pierce  and  Buchanan.  He 
proposes  to  visit  the  headquarters  of  the  Prussian  army,  and  I  beg  to  com- 
mend him  to  your  acquaintance  as  an  intelligent  gentlemen,  much  inter- 
ested in  passing  events  and  whose  acquaintance  you  will  be  glad  to  make. 

I  am  truly  yours, 

Lieut.-Gen.  SHERIDAN.  E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  169 

Armed  with  this  letter,  Mr.  O'Sullivan  started  off  on 
his  expedition,  and,  much  to  my  chagrin,  magnified  it 
into  an  important  official  document  from  the  American 
Minister.  He  got  through  the  French  lines  very  well ; 
but  when  he  reached  the  German  lines,  he  was  stopped 
in  his  progress,  managing,  however,  to  have  the  letter 
sent  to  Sheridan.  Of  course,  his  attempt  to  enter  the 
German  lines  was  known  at  the  Prussian  head-quarters, 
where  his  mission,  as  he  had  given  out  it  was,  was 
rated  at  its  true  value.  It  was  known  to  be  a  letter 
to  General  Sheridan  from  me,  and  as  the  former  did 
not  express  any  burning  desire  to  see  the  bearer,  Bis- 
marck made  a  suggestion  that  he  would  better  leave 
the  German  lines  and  return  to  Paris.  This  he  at- 
tempted. While  going  through  the  French  lines,  the 
bearer  of  my  letter,  he  was  treated  with  great  consider- 
ation, and  every  facility  afforded  him,  that  was  possible, 
to  pass  through  the  lines.  But,  as  he  returned,  it  being 
known  that  he  had  not  been  permitted  to  enter  the 
German  lines,  he  was  treated  very  roughly  by  the 
French,  and  subjected  to  many  insults.  Returning  to 
Paris,  he  soon  called  on  me  to  get  permission  to  leave 
Paris.  He  went  to  Versailles  and  remained  there  some 
little  time,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  many 
prominent  persons,  and  advanced  certain  pet  theories 
he  had  in  relation  to  patching  up  a  peace  between 
France  and  Germany.  Colonel  Wickham  Hoffman,  who 
published  in  1877,  a  pleasant  volume  entitled  "Camp, 
Court  and  Siege,"  and  who  knew  O'Sullivan  well, 
printed  this  incident  touching  his  stay  in  Versailles. 
He  says : 

"  One  evening  O'Sullivan  dined  with  the  Crown 
Prince.  He  sat  next  to  Bismarck  and  discoursed  upon 
his  pet  '  neutrality '  theory.  As  they  parted,  Bismarck 


I  70  THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

shook  his  hand  and  said  he  was  charmed  to  make  his 
acquaintance.  '  But,  Mr.  O'Sullivan,'  said  Bismarck,  '  a 
curious  thing  sometimes  happens  to  me.  I  make  the 
acquaintance  of  a  most  agreeable  gentleman  in  the  af- 
ternoon, and  in  the  evening  I  find  myself  reluctantly 
compelled  to  order  him  out  of  Versailles.'  O'Sullivan 
mentioned  this  to  the  friends  he  was  visiting,  in  the 
evening,  but  did  not  see  its  application  to  himself. 
They  did,  however.  He  went  to  his  hotel  and  found  a 
Prussian  officer  at  his  door  with  orders  to  have  him 
leave  Versailles  that  night.  He  remonstrated,  and  it 
was  finally  agreed  that  he  should  leave  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  A  sentry  was  placed  at  his  bedroom 
door,  who  thought  that  a  proper  discharge  of  his  duty 
required  him  to  open  it  every  five  minutes  during  the 
night,  to  make  sure  that  his  prisoner  had  not  escaped." 
On  September  24th,  the  sixth  day  of  the  siege,  I  re- 
corded the  following  in  my  diary  :  "  A  very  uninterest- 
ing day  and  scarcely  an  incident  worth  naming.  Quite  a 
number  of  people  at  the  legation.  Many  who  were  de- 
termined to  stay  through  the  siege  now  find  reasons  for 
leaving.  I  request  all  of  them  to  send  their  names  and 
addresses  to  the  legation.  It  is  evident  that  the  people 
do  not  find  as  much  to  fear  as  they  expected,  in  being 
shut  up  in  a  besieged  city.  The  day  has  been  lovely,  but 
I  hear  of  no  military  operations.  I  rode  down  town  as 
usual  this  afternoon,  but  heard  no  news.  At  five  P.M., 
I  called  on  M.  Jules  Favre  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  to  hand  him  a  letter  I  had  written  to  him,  and  he 
spoke  of  the  eventful  trip  he  had  had  to  the  Prussian 
head-quarters,  which  he  explained  as  having  been  under- 
taken on  his  own  responsibility  and  entirely  without  the 
knowledge  of  his  colleagues.  He  spoke  most  hopefully 
of  the  situation,  and  seemed  in  much  better  spirits  than  I 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  171 

had  ever  before  seen  him.  He  said  that  the  spirit  of  the 
troops  and  the  people  of  Paris  was  now  excellent,  and  he 
thought  that  the  Prussians  would  try  and  take  the  city  by 
assault." 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  troubles  in  Paris  the 
spy-craze  set  in.  The  sergents  de  ville  and  the  National 
Guard  affected  to  see  spies  (espions)  on  the  streets  at  al- 
most every  corner,  and  it  was  a  great  card  to  arrest  a 
man  as  an  espion.  A  few  days  before  the  siege  set  in, 
an  American  clergymen  who  had  come  up  from  the  south 
of  France,  was  stopping  a  few  days  in  Paris.  He  strode 
up  the  Champs  Elysees  and  carelessly  seated  himself  on 
one  of  the  benches  beneath  the  shade  of  a  beautiful  tree. 
There  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  make  an  entry 
in  his  diary,  which  he  drew  from  his  pocket  for  the  pur- 
pose. While  writing  down  the  hour  that  he  reached 
Paris,  the  hotel  he  stopped  at  and  what  he  had  for  break- 
fast, he  was  seized  by  a  policeman,  accused  of  being  a 
Prussian  spy  who  was  taking  a  plan  of  the  city  and  re- 
cording the  state  of  its  defence  in  his  diary.  He  was 
dragged  off  to  prison,  without  any  attention  being  paid 
to  his  remonstrances  and  claim  of  being  a  peaceable 
American  citizen  who  had  arrived  from  the  south  of 
France  and  was  merely  passing  through  Paris  before  leav- 
ing for  the  United  States.  He  was  thrust  into  a  vile 
hole,  utterly  without  comfort  or  cleanliness  ;  but  he  was 
fortunate  enough  to  get  a  little  note  borne  to  me,  and  I 
was  enabled  to  have  him  released  at  once. 

I  recorded  in  my  diary  September  25th,  the  7th  day 
of  the  siege,  another  incident  about  a  spy  as  follows  : 
"  Weather  is  still  beautiful.  It  is  literally  a  morning 
without  a  cloud.  At  9.15,  precisely,  les  canons  gron- 
dent.  We  wonder  where  the  firing  is.  It  seems  quite 
near  for  it  shakes  the  house.  The  Republic  is  just  three 


1/2 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


weeks  old  to-day  ;  the  government  of  the  National  De- 
fence has  gained  strength  within  the  last  few  days.  The 
mission  of  Jules  Favre  has  done  wonders,  but  it  is  yet  to 
be  seen  how  much  there  really  is  in  the  people  of  Paris. 
La  Liberte  of  this  morning,  claims  that  they  have  600,- 
ooo  soldiers  in  Paris."  In  the  evening  of  that  day  I  re- 
corded as  follows  :  "  Went  to  the  legation  at  10.30  this 
morning.  Many  people  called.  At  half-past  two,  rode 
to  Montmartre  to  see  if  the  balloon  was  going  off,  and 
found  it  was  not.  Then  rode  through  La  Villette  out  to 
the  fortifications  and  when  outside  as  far  as  the  village 
of  Pantin.  This  must  have  been  a  town  of  some  15,000 
people,  though  the  portion  of  it  nearest  the  fortifications 
had  been  destroyed  entirely,  and  the  remainder,  a  great 
portion  of  it,  was  almost  utterly  deserted.  Only  a  few 
little  groceries  remained  on  the  main  street.  Outside  of 
that  street  it  was  like  a  city  of  the  dead.  Went  out  on 
the  field  of  '  Langlois,'  which  was  the  theatre  of  the 
murder  of  the  Kink  family  by  Tropman.  Coming  back 
through  La  Villette,  we  found  a  man  who  had  just  been 
arrested  as  a  Prussian  spy,  who  was  in  charge  of  four 
soldiers  of  the  Guard  Mobile.  I  am  inclined  to  think  he 
was  a  real  spy.  He  had  on  a  uniform  of  one  of  the  old 
soldiers  of  the  Invalides,  though  he  was  comparatively  a 
young  man.  Our  carriage  passed  very  near  him,  and  he 
had  a  thoroughly  German  look.  The  fortifications  look 
stronger  outside  than  inside,  and  it  seems  to  me  it  would 
be  a  difficult  matter  to  get  over  them  and  get  into  the 
city  without  great  slaughter.  Paris  is  much  stronger  to- 
day than  a  week  ago,  taking  into  consideration  the  im- 
proved morale  of  the  troops  and  of  the  people.  I  have 
not  learned  what  the  firing  this  morning  meant," 

Entry  in   my  diary,   September  26th,  8th  day    of  the 
siege  :  "  Absolutely  nothing  of  importance  to-day.     The 


THE  FIRST   WEEKS   OF  THE  SIEGE.  173 

weather  has  been  perfectly  splendid  ;  no  military  oper- 
ations, no  firing,  no  excitement.  I  propose  to  send  a 
letter  off  by  the  balloon  which  will  leave  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  balloon  line  is  a 
success.  I  wish  there  could  be  a  balloon  to  come  in,  for 
this  absence  of  all  intelligence  from  the  outside  world 
is  becoming  quite  unbearable." 


CHAPTER   VI. 

MONOTONOUS    DAYS    IN    THE    BESIEGED    CITY. 

Gambetta's  Departure  for  Tours  by  Balloon — A  Sketch  of  his  Remarkable 
Career — His  Rapid  Rise  from  Obscurity  to  Power — Personal  Qualities — 
Disorder  in  the  Streets  of  Paris — The  Tuileries  Correspondence — Another 
Visit  from  General  Burnside — A  Succession  of  Rainy,  Uneventful  Days — 
Departure  of  Americans  from  Paris — Bismarck's  Memoir  on  the  Hopeless 
Struggle. 

ON  October  7,  Gambetta,  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
took  his  departure  from  Paris  in  a  special  balloon. 
I  had  never  known  Gambetta  personally,  until  he  became 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  in  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence.  I  had  seen  him  often  in  the  Cham- 
ber, where  he  was  a  conspicuous  figure.  I  had  seen 
him,  on  the  day  of  the  Revolution  of  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, throw  out  from  one  of  the  windows  of  the  Ho- 
tel de  Ville  the  slips  containing  the  names  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  from  the  department  of 
the  Seine,  who  were  to  form  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence.  This  list  was  accepted  by  the  surg- 
ing mass  below  with  unbounded  applause.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  provisional  government,  who  were  assigned 
to  the  heads  of  the  different  ministries,  descended  into 
the  streets  and  took  open  cabs  for  their  several  de- 
partments. It  was  an  extraordinary  and  unheard  of 
thing.  These  men,  without  any  warrant  of  authority 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    175 

except  that  of  the  approval  given  by  this  dense  mass 
of  people  of  the  city  of  Paris,  were  received  and  acknowl- 
edged by  all  the  officers  of  the  departments,  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  newly  proclaimed  government  of  the 
National  Defence.  They  took  instant  possession  of  their 
respective  ministries.  Gambetta  had  been  designated  as 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  while  Jules  Favre  was  assigned 
to  Foreign  Affairs,  both  of  them  very  important  minis- 
tries. But  that  of  the  Interior,  having  such  intimate  re- 
lations with  all  the  internal  concerns  of  France,  was  most 
important.  It  was  very  soon  after  Gambetta  had  been 
installed  in  the  ministry  that  I  found  it  necessary  to  call 
upon  him,  officially,  in  relation  to  matters  of  much  im- 
portance. I  found  him  a  young  man  of  striking  personal 
appearance,  with  coal-black  hair  and  black  whiskers, 
closely  trimmed.  He  was  a  little  under  middle  height, 
and  rather  a  slim  person  (he  afterward  became  uncom- 
fortably heavy).  He  received  me  with  great  cordiality 
and  kindness,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  place  himself  at 
my  disposition  in  whatever  I  might  desire.  M.  Chev- 
reau,  his  predecessor  as  Minister  of  the  Interior  under 
the  Empire,  I  had  always  found  very  courteous  and  anx- 
ious to  do  what  he  possibly  could  to  aid  me  in  getting 
the  Germans  out  of  Paris.  He  seemed  however  to  be 
hampered  by  the  Corps  Legislatif ;  but  I  always  felt 
thankful  to  him  for  the  extreme  e^ood  will  he  had  rnani- 

£> 

fested  in  respect  to  matters  concerning  the  Germans, 
which  came  within  his  immediate  jurisdiction.  Still,  he 
was  not  able  to  carry  out  what  he  would  have  been  glad 
to  do.  At  the  time  of  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  I  had  be- 
come very  much  embarrassed  in  sending  the  Germans 
away.  But  when  the  government  of  the  National  De- 
fence came  into  power,  seeing  how  great  the  danger  was 
that  many  Germans  could  not  possibly  get  off,  that  many 


i;6  MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY. 

were  imprisoned  for  being  without  work  or  visible  means 
of  subsistence,  that  many  were  confined  as  spies  and  dan- 
gerous persons,  and  that  all  of  them  might  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  legation  in  case  of  a  siege,  I  called  upon 
Gambetta,  and  there  concerted  with  him  measures,  at  the 
last  moment,  to  have  them  discharged  en  masse.  I  went 
over  the  whole  question  with  the  minister,  and  explained 
to  him  precisely  how  matters  stood  in  that  regard.  He 
at  once  comprehended  the  situation  and  arranged  with 
the  Count  de  Keratry,  the  Prefect  of  the  Police,  to  have 
them  discharged  en  masse  and  sent,  at  the  expense  of  the 
French  government,  to  the  Belgian  frontier.  That  was 
a  magnanimous  act  of  the  French  government,  and  the 
credit  was  due  to  Gambetta.  I  was  struck  by  the  quick- 
ness of  his  perceptions,  his  executive  ability  and  his 
promptness  of  decision. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  our  acquaintance,  which  ri- 
pened into  a  firm  friendship.  His  energy,  patriotism  and 
supreme  love  of  his  country  were  already  recognized. 
He  had  developed  at  the  tribune  of  the  Chamber  of  Dep- 
uties all  that  ability  and  eloquence  which  had  attracted 
public  attention,  and  later  in  his  colossal  struggle  to 
save  his  country  he  exhibited  all  those  grand  qualities  of 
courage,  devotion  and  pluck  which  captured  the  hearts  of 
so  many  of  his  countrymen.  For  all  of  these  great  ser- 
vices, the  pen  of  history,  now  that  he  is  dead,  has  done 
him  full  justice.  He  won  undying  laurels  as  an  orator, 
statesman  and  patriot ;  and  when  he  died,  one  of  the 
great  figures  in  French  politics  disappeared. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  here  to  trace  in  detail  the 
career  of  this  extraordinary  man,  whose  name  and  mem- 
ory will  live  as  long  as  his  country  shall  have  a  name  in 
history.  I  may  however  mention  some  striking  features 
of  his  life.  The  manner  in  which  he  was  first  introduced 


GAMBETTA  LEAVING  PARIS  IN  A  BALLOON. 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    177 

to  the  public  was  somewhat  extraordinary.  He  was  born 
at  Cahors,  in  the  department  of  the  Lot,  in  April,  1838, 
of  French  parents,  though  the  family  was  originally 
Italian.  After  acquiring  a  good  education,  like  so  many 
of  the  most  talented  and  enterprising  of  young  French- 
men, he  left  the  province  to  come  to  Paris  to  pursue  the 
study  of  law.  Taking  up  his  residence  as  a  student  in 
the  Latin  Quarter,  at  the  Cafe  Procope,  which  had  become 
the  rendezvous  of  a  great  number  of  poor  students  like 
himself,  he  made  himself  famous,  by  the  charm  of  his 
conversation,  and  his  eloquent  and  profound  disquisitions 
on  public  and  political  matters.  His  Bohemian  compan- 
ions at  the  Cafe  Procope  soon  recognized  in  him  his  great 
power  and  ability,  and  predicted  that  he  would  make  his 
mark.  He  was  a  diligent  student,  and  kept  abreast  with 
political  events,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  irreconcil- 
able opposition  to  imperialism.  He  amazed  his  oppo- 
nents by  the  bold  denunciation  which  he  hurled  into  the 
camp  of  the  Bonapartists.  It  was  not  long  before  his 
day  came.  He  was  an  obscure  lawyer  struggling  for  a 
scanty  living.  One  of  the  victims  of  the  coup  d'etat  by 
which  Napoleon  came  into  power,  was  a  young  man  by 
the  name  of  Baudin,  who  had  been  shot  on  the  ramparts 
of  Paris.  The  recollection  of  his  fate  had  been  kept 
green  in  the  memory  of  the  vast  mass  of  the  French 
people,  who  held  in  detestation  the  author  of  the  fright- 
ful coup  d'etat  which  struck  down  the  Republic  of  France 
and  enabled  the  Empire  to  rise  on  its  ruins.  The  grave 
of  Baudin  was  decorated  every  year  with  flowers  and 
wreaths,  as  a  protestation  against  the  government  which 
was  held  responsible  for  his  death.  Then,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  raise  a  monument  to  his  memory,  and  many  of 
the  Radical  journals,  particularly  Le  Reveil,  proposed 
opening  subscriptions  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the 


178  MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

expense  of  building  a  monument.  This  action  of  Le 
Reveil  led  to  the  prosecution  of  the  paper  in  the 
courts.  Scarcely  known  at  all  in  his  profession,  Gam- 
betta  was  now  selected  to  defend  the  paper  before  the 
Tribunal,  and  it  was  on  that  occasion  that  he  made  the 
most  remarkable  speech  that  had  ever  been  heard  in 
France  under  such  circumstances.  A  gentleman  whom  I 
knew  in  Paris,  who  was  a  contemporary  and  friend  of 
Gambetta,  although  not  in  sympathy  with  his  political 
views,  was  present  at  that  trial,  and  he  once  described  to 
me  the  proceedings.  Gambetta  was  unknown  to  the 
magistrates  who  held  the  court.  But  my  friend,  who  had 
known  him  and  had  a  great  opinion  of  his  eloquence  and 
his  talent,  desired  to  hear  him  make  his  debut,  as  it  were. 
Without  fame,  Gambetta  began  the  speech  in  a  some- 
what commonplace  manner ;  but  proceeding,  he  poured 
forth  a  torrent  of  eloquence,  denunciation  and  argument 
which  seemed  to  completely  stun  the  court.  Under  ordi- 
nary circumstances  the  speaker  would  have  been  arrested 
in  his  speech,  and  would  have  been  fortunate  had  he 
not  been  sent  to  prison.  But  such  was  the  power  of  his 
eloquence  and  the  effect  that  it  had  upon  the  judges  that 
they  sat  spell-bound  and  listened  with  such  amazement 
to  his  arraignment  of  the  Empire  that  they  were  too  stu- 
pefied to  call  him  to  order.  The  little  stifling  court  room 
was  crowded  with  people,  who  were  carried  away  by  the 
eloquence  and  arguments  of  the  young  advocate. 

Efforts  were  made  by  the  government  to  suppress  the 
speech,  but  the  greater  the  effort  made,  the  greater  was 
the  desire  of  everybody  to  read  it.  In  spite  of  every 
effort  the  speech  crept  over  the  whole  Empire,  and  was 
read  by  the  electors  in  every  city  and  village  in  France 
within  a  week  ;  and  from  the  student  sipping  his  coffee 
and  eating  his  crust  in  the  Cafe  Procope,  and  from  the 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY,    179 

briefless  lawyer  without  fame,  it  was  but  a  few  days  be- 
fore Gambetta's  name  was  upon  the  tongue  of  almost 
every  man  in  France. 

Soon  after  this,  Gambetta  was  elected  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Corps  Legislatif  from  the  Department  of  the 
Seine.  There  he  became  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  leaders 
of  the  opposition.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif'at  the  time  of  the  revolution  of  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber. In  anticipation  of  the  siege  of  Paris  and  the  deter- 
mination of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  to 
remain  in  the  city,  it  was  determined  to  send  a  delegation 
of  three  of  its  members  to  Tours  to  represent  the  govern- 
ment outside  of  Paris.  It  was  soon  realized,  however, 
that  the  delegation  already  at  Tours  would  have  to  be  re- 
inforced from  Paris.  This  delegation,  which  had  been  sent 
to  Tours  by  the  government  in  the  first  place,  consisted 
of  Cremieux,  the  old  Hebrew  advocate  and  Minister  of 
Justice  and  Worship,  and  Glais-Bizoin,  an  old  and  eccen- 
tric republican,  a  member  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  from 
the  Department  of  the  Seine,  and  a  minister,  without  a 
portfolio,  in  the  government  of  the  National  Defence.  I 
recollect  him  well  as  he  appeared  in  the  Chamber  of  the 
Corps  Legislatif,  a  little  old  man,  very  carelessly  and 
slovenly  dressed.  Following  closely  the  proceedings  of 
the  Chamber,  he  was  noted  for  his  constant  habit  of  in- 
terrupting the  speakers.  He  had  no  particular  reputation 
as  a  speaker  or  as  an  influential  member  of  the  Chamber. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  his  selection  was  a  very  absurd 
one.  Fourichon,  the  third  man  of  the  delegates,  was  the 
Admiral  who  had  fulfilled,  under  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence,  the  functions  of  Minister  of  War  and 
Minister  of  Marine. 

These  were  the  three  men  who  were  entrusted,  by  the 
government  of  the  National  Defence,  with  the  manage- 


I  So  MONOTONOUS  DAFS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

ment  of  the  affairs  of  France  outside  of  the  walls  of  Paris ; 
but  they  all  wanted  in  energy  and  in  that  spirit  of  initia- 
tive which  the  situation  so  imperatively  exacted.  With 
the  German  army  encircling  Paris  like  a  wall  of  fire,  the 
question  was  how  to  accomplish  the  object,  and  Gambetta 
was  selected  as  the  member  of  the  government  to  go  out 
of  the  city  to  join  the  Tours  delegation.  The  only  way 
was  to  get  out  by  balloon,  and  there  never  was  a  more 
desperate  or  more  hazardous  undertaking  ;  but  it  was  a 
success.  Gambetta  took  the  balloon,  in  the  company  of 
two  American  gentlemen  whom  I  well  knew,  and  landed 
outside  the  Prussian  lines.  He  soon  made  his  way 
to  Tours.  Clothed  with  the  most  ample  powers,  he  at 
once  seized  the  helm.  With  his  soul  on  fire,  his  indomi- 
table purpose,  his  pauseless  energy,  his  magnetism,  his 
enthusiasm,  he  at  once  subordinated  his  colleagues  to  his 
own  imperious  will.  His  enemies  were  right,  for  once, 
when  they  called  him  the  "  dictator  "  of  France.  That 
dictatorship  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  episodes  in 
French  history.  A  German  military  writer,  influenced 
by  the  most  generous  impulses,  has  published  a  book  in 
regard  to  the  connection  of  Gambetta  with  the  army  of 
the  Loire,  which  does  him  the  most  complete  justice. 
Many  believe  that  if  Gambetta  had  been  loyally  sup- 
ported by  his  reactionary  countrymen,  he  would  have 
been  able  to  have  saved  France. 

After  the  war  was  over,  his  enemies  put  into  operation 
all  the  machinery  of  a  parliamentary  inquisition,  in  the 
hope  of  blasting  his  reputation  and  soiling  his  honor  and 
destroying  him  in  the  public  estimation.  Pursuing  him 
for  months,  tracking  him  with  spies,  they  could  find  no 
spot  upon  his  garments.  With  absolute  control  of  un- 
counted and  untold  millions,  they  had  found  his  record 
clean,  and  his  hands  unstained  with  plunder. 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    181 

From  the  temperament  of  Gambetta,  and  from  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  mixed  up  in  the  defence  of 
France,  it  is  perhaps  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  was 
opposed  to  making  any  peace  with  the  Germans.  His 
motto  always  was,  war  &  outrance.  There  is  a  long  story 
of  the  differences  which  sprang  up  between  him  and  M. 
Thiers  as  Chef  dzi  Pouvoir  Executif,  M.  Jules  Simon  and 
others,  but  I  cannot  go  into  it  here. 

After  peace  was  made,  worn  out  by  his  intense  labors, 
he  went  to  Spain  to  remain  a  few  months  to  recruit.  In 
the  elections  of  July,  1871,  Gambetta,  having  returned  to 
Paris,  was  once  more  elected  a  member  of  the  National 
Assembly.  There  he  became  one  of  its  most  influential 
members  and  wielded  a  power  unequalled  by  any  of  his 
colleagues.  Gambetta  entered  public  life  as  an  extreme 
Radical  ;  but  reaching  positions  devolving  upon  him 
great  responsibilities,  he  developed  great  moderation  and 
sagacity.  As  an  orator  in  the  Chamber,  he  scarcely  had 
an  equal,  and  not  a  superior.  Mirabeau,  in  his  palmiest 
days  in  the  National  Convention,  was  never  his  superior. 
I  was  present  in  the  diplomatic  gallery  when  he  made  his 
speech  in  the  Chamber,  the  day  after  the  overthrow  of 
M.  Thiers,  by  the  coalition,  and  I  never  listened  to  a 
speech  of  so  much  eloquence  and  power.  It  was  a  good 
deal  like  his  speech  in  the  Affaire  Baudin.  It  was  so  elo- 
quent, so  powerful  and  so  denunciatory  that  it  seemed  to 
stupefy  the  reactionary  majority,  which  the  day  before  had 
turned  M.  Thiers  out  of  power.  He  proceeded  through 
the  whole  length  of  his  speech  with  scarcely  an  interrup- 
tion, which  was  strange  enough  considering  the  excitable 
qualities  of  the  reactionary  deputies.  These  deputies  re- 
covered themselves,  however,  the  next  day  ;  and  when  he 
attempted  to  speak,  it  was  almost  impossible  for  him  to 
proceed  on  account  of  their  cries,  vociferations  and  insults. 


1 82  MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITF. 

From  the  time  that  Gambetta  had  taken  his  place  in 
the  Chamber,  after  the  establishment  of  peace,  to  the 
time  I  left  Paris  to  return  home,  in  September,  1877, 
I  saw  much  of  him.  He  lived  in  a  small  apartment 
au  second  in  the  Rue  de  Marignan.  His  house-keeper 
was  an  old  aunt  who  had  tenderly  looked  after  him,  for 
many  years,  in  Paris.  Much  had  been  said  by  the  re- 
actionary papers  about  the  vast  wealth  that  Gambetta 
had  accumulated  during  the  war  and  his  luxurious  style 
of  living.  I  never  visited  him  in  this  apartment,  but 
an  American  friend  who  had  much  to  do  with  him,  and 
who,  in  fact,  went  out  with  him  in  the  balloon,  often 
visited  him,  and  he  once  described  to  me  the  palatial 
residence  of  the  great  Tribune.  Its  entrance  was  into 
a  little  ante-chamber  which  had  been  utilized  as  a  salle 
a  manger.  In  the  middle  there  was  a  little  round  table 
covered  with  oil-cloth,  at  which  Gambetta  and  his  aunt 
took  their  frugal  meals.  From  the  ante-chamber  you 
entered  into  a  little  salon,  which  fronted  on  the  street, 
and  on  either  side  was  a  sleeping  room — one  occupied 
by  Gambetta,  and  the  other  by  his  aunt. 

The  Republique  Franchise,  established  by  Gambetta, 
having  reached  a  very  large  circulation,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  new  quarters,  and  quite  a  large  build- 
ing was  bought  for  that  purpose  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Chaussee  d'Antin,  situated  in  a  little  court.  Gambetta 
moved  into  this  building  to  be  in  more  direct  proximity 
to  his  business.  Then  another  howl  went  up  from  the 
reactionary  newspapers,  which  represented  him  as  occu- 
pying a  palace  furnished  in  more  than  Oriental  magnifi- 
cence. Having  occasion  to  visit  him  in  his  new  quarters, 
I  was  able  to  judge  of  his  luxurious  manner  of  living  and 
the  way  in  which  (according  to  the  journals)  he  was  ex- 
pending his  ill-gotten  gains.  His  grand  salon,  as  it  had 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY.    183 

been  described,  was  of  very  fair  proportions,  and  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  five  hundred  francs  would  have  purchased 
all  of  the  furniture  in  the  room.  The  principal  article 
was  a  large  wooden  table  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  on 
which  were  thrown  books,  newspapers,  magazines,  etc. 
On  the  table  were  quite  a  number  of  his  photographs 
and,  upon  my  request,  he  gave  me  several  of  them,  to 
which  he  a  t- 
tached  his  name. 
The  engraving 
which  here  ap- 
pears is  from  one 
of  these  photo- 
graphs, which  I 
have  guarded 
ever  since  he 
presented  it  to 
me.  Gambetta 
was  not  a  man  of 
society,  his  en- 
gagements and 
occupations  ren- 
dered it  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  ac- 
cept invitations. 
I  remember  having  met  him  only  once  at  dinner  at 
the  house  of  a  friend.  It  was  impossible  for  any  man 
to  make  himself  more  agreeable  at  a  dinner  table 
than  he,  for  he  was  almost  unrivalled  as  a  conversation- 
alist. The  three  most  eloquent  and  instructive  talkers 
(causeurs)  I  ever  knew  in  Paris,  were  M.  Thiers,  Jules 
Simon  and  Gambetta.  Indeed  I  never  knew  their  equal 
anywhere.  Of  the  three  I  should  put  Jules  Simon 
first  as  a  conversationalist.  Jules  Favre  was  a  fine 


Leon   Gambetta. 


1 84  MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IX  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

talker,  and  he  used  the  French  language  in  the  most  ex- 
quisite style. 

I  shall  never  forget  a  visit  I  made  to  the  government 
of  the  National  Defence,  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  in  the 
winter  of  1870-71.  I  found  there  assembled  the  govern- 
ment of  France  in  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  splendid 
salons  in  that  magnificent  old  palace,  one  of  the  grandest 
in  Europe,  so  allied  for  centuries  to  the  most  interesting 
and  important  events  in  French  history, — alas,  so  soon  to 
be  destroyed  by  the  Commune,  with  all  its  historic  wealth 
and  with  all  its  associations!  The  members  of  the  gov- 
ernment whom  I  met  on  this  occasion,  were  Emmanuel 
Arago,  Jules  Ferry,  Gamier- Pages,  Eugene  Pelletan, 
Ernest  Picard  and  Jules  Simon.  After  a  little  casual 
conversation  with  the  Paris  members  of  the  government, 
M.  Jules  Simon  became  the  spokesman  of  the  body  and 
entered  upon  an  explanation  of  the  situation  and  the  ac- 
tion of  the  government,  the  prospect  for  the  success  of 
France,  etc.,  and  for  a  time  he  poured  forth  a  stream  of 
conversation  more  eloquent  and  interesting  than  anything 
I  had  ever  listened  to. 

In  all  this  time  Paris  was  called  a  "  Republic,"  but 
the  government  was  that  of  the  National  Defence. 
Though  the  republican  constitution  was  subsequently 
made,  there  was  not  a  republican  government  ;  in  fact, 
the  National  Assembly,  chosen  so  soon  as  possible  after 
the  war  was  over,  did  not  fairly  represent  the  coun- 
try. The  old  reactionary  elements  were  found  to  be  on 
the  qui  vive  and  ready  for  action  when  the  election 
took  place,  while  the  opposition  was  scattered  and  com- 
paratively demoralized.  It  was  this  assembly,  binding 
together  all  the  elements  of  the  opposition  to  the  Repub- 
licans (the  Legitimists,  the  Orleanists  and  the  Imperial- 
ists), which  was  always  ready  to  unite  to  strike  a  blow  at 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    185 

republicanism.  They  managed  to  overthrow  M.  Thiers 
and  drive  him  out  of  the  presidency.  While  it  did  not 
change  the  form  of  the  government,  yet  it  elected  a 
President  deadly  hostile  to  a  republic,  who  selected 
ministers  equally  hostile,  and  who  did  everything  in 
their  power  to  overthrow  the  government  which  they 
were  bound  by  every  obligation  of  honor  and  good 
faith  to  sustain.  But  that  assembly  was  to  come  to  an 
end. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1877,  a  new  election  for  mem- 
bers of  the  assembly  was  to  take  place.  The  two  par- 
ties, Monarchical  and  Republican,  were  brought  face  to 
face  at  this  election,  and  the  world  has  never  seen  a 
more  bitter  contest  or  a  fiercer  political  struggle. 
Though  in  comparative  retirement,  M.  Thiers  gave  the 
Republican  party  the  benefit  of  his  wise  counsel,  while 
Gambetta  was  its  right  arm,  arousing  everywhere  the 
utmost  enthusiasm  by  his  arguments  and  his  eloquence. 
It  was  in  the  height  of  this  terrible  struggle  that  M. 
Thiers  suddenly  died  at  St.  Germain-en-Laye.  His 
body  was  soon  moved  to  his  residence  in  the  Place 
St.  Georges,  in  Paris,  and  his  funeral  took  place  on 
Sunday,  September  8th,  1877.  As  I  had  perfected  all 
my  arrangements  to  leave  France  for  my  return  home 
on  the  following  Monday,  I  went  to  the  Place  St. 
Georges,  before  the  hour  of  the  funeral,  to  take  leave 
of  Madame  Thiers,  and  her  sister,  and  it  was  there 
that  I  met  Gambetta  for  the  last  time.  He  spoke  to 
me  in  accents  of  the  deepest  emotion  of  the  affliction 
that  M.  Thiers's  death  had  caused,  and  of  the  irrepara- 
ble loss  that  France  had  sustained  by  the  sudden  de- 
mise of  that  great  man,  coming  as  it  did  at  the  moment 
of  the  fiercest  political  struggle  that  had  ever  taken 
place  in  France. 


1 86   MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

To  return  to  the  story  of  the  siege — on  September 
27th,  1870,  we  had  news  that  Ledru-Rollin,  an  old 
Revolutionary  of  1848,  had  got  into  Paris  after  an  ex- 
ile of  twenty  years,  and  found  himself  quite  at  home 
in  the  convulsions  then  taking  place  in  the  city.  Felix 
Pyat  had  commenced  publishing  a  journal  of  the  most 
violent  and  revolutionary  type, — La  Patrie  en  Danger. 
Notwithstanding  the  situation,  I  was  enabled  to  have 
quite  a  party  at  dinner  on  that  evening,  and  though 
we  had  been  shut  up  for  ten  days  we  were  yet  enabled 
to  have  a  very  good  gentlemen's  dinner  of  eleven  covers. 
One  of  the  guests,  Dr.  Johnston,  interested  us  by  re- 
counting that  on  the  day  before  he  had  plainly  seen  the 
Prussian  guns,  and  that  they  commanded  all  of  our  part 
of  the  city.  But  that  news  did  not  seem  to  disturb  the 
equanimity  of  the  party. 

It  was  amazing  to  see  how  quickly  the  demoralization 
set  in  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  Up  to  that  time,  I 
think  Paris  was  one  of  the  best  governed  cities  in  the 
world,  speaking  strictly  of  the  municipal  administration. 
The  police  were  vigilant,  alert  and  honest,  and  life  and 
property  were  everywhere  safe.  I  had  never  seen  the 
time,  up  to  the  revolution  of  the  4th  of  September,  that 
I  would  have  been  afraid  to  have  visited  the  most  remote 
and  unfrequented  streets  in  the  city  ;  for  everywhere  were 
to  be  found  the  most  watchful  policemen  on  their  different 
beats.  But  this  city  government  practically  fell  with  the 
Empire,  and  in  the  absence  of  governmental  and  po- 
litical regulations,  there  was  much  disorder  ;  the  streets 
were  filled  with  the  most  obscene  and  disgusting  litera- 
ture, and  the  vilest  caricatures  were  cried  on  the  streets 
by  men  and  boys,  and  sometimes  even  by  young  girls. 

It  was  during  the  last  of  September  or  the  first  of  Oc- 
tober, 1870,  that  the  Tuileries  correspondence,  to  which  I 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  /A   THE  BESIEGED  CITY.    187 

have  referred,  was  published  in  the  Parisian  journals. 
Independent  of  the  scandal  and  gossip  which  it  revealed, 
there  were  certain  other  revelations  which  created  a  great 
deal  of  talk.  Facts  came  out  in  respect  to  the  civil  list 
which  were  truly  astonishing,  as  they  revealed  a  great 
many  persons  who  had  been  receiving  pensions  from  the 
government.  Not  only  were  "  sisters  and  cousins  and 
aunts  "  provided  for,  but  a  great  many  outsiders.  One 
thing  in  these  revelations  that  struck  me  was  that  Anna 
Murat  received  as  her  marriage  portion  200,000  francs 
when  she  married  the  Duke  de  Mouchy.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Lucien  Murat,  upon  whom  was  conferred  the 
title  of  Prince  of  the  Imperial  family,  by  Napoleon  after 
the  coup  d'etat  of  December  2d,  1851.  Her  father  had 
lived  a  long  time  in  the  United  States  and  had  married 
a  Charleston  lady  (a  Miss  Fraser).  Having  lost  all  their 
property,  they  kept  a  boarding  school.  Anna  Murat,  af- 
terwards the  Duchess  de  Mouchy,  was  born  in  the 
United  States,  in  1841,  and  was  therefore  an  American 
to  all  intents  and  purposes.  Having  some  knowledge  of 
her  antecedents  and  having  known  of  the  career  of  her 
father  in  the  United  States,  I  was  guilty  of  a  contretemps 
in  once  speaking  to  her  of  being  an  American.  She  im- 
mediately corrected  me  with  spirit,  saying  that  although 
she  was  born  in  the  United  States,  yet  it  was  while  they 
were  "  in  exile?  She  was  a  lady  of  very  stylish  appear- 
ance, and,  it  might  be  said,  one  of  the  most  attractive  con- 
nected with  the  court.  Her  husband,  the  Duke  de  Mou- 
chy, was  a  descendant  of  an  old  family,  of  fine  personal 
appearance  and  large  fortune.  He  only  entered  political 
life  after  his  marriage  with  Anna  Murat,  when  he  was 
elected  to  the  Corps  Legislatif  from  the  Department  of 
the  Oise. 

Those  days  of  the  last  of  September  and  the  first  of 


1 88  MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY. 

October  were  comparatively  uneventful.  There  was 
some  fighting  going  on  outside  of  the  walls  of  Paris,  and 
the  usual  number  of  proclamations  and  notices  were  is- 
sued, which  now,  read  in  the  light  of  history,  seem  very 
absurd.  The  Figaro  made  itself  ridiculous  by  its  ad- 
vice and  suggestions.  One  day  it  recommended  that 
the  National  Guard  should  choose  its  vivandieres  from 
the  most  celebrated  members  of  the  demi-monde.  Other 
recommendations,  equally  absurd  and  puerile,  appeared 
in  the  newspapers.  Mr.  O'Sullivan,  whom  I  have  alluded 
to  as  a  would-be  peacemaker,  published  about  this  time 
an  account  of  his  expedition  to  the  Prussian  head-quarters, 
in  a  Paris  journal  called  L'Electeur  Libre.  Having 
said  in  this  account  that  the  Prussians  were  conducting 
themselves  well  in  the  villages  they  occupied,  the  editor 
was  reviled  and  attacked  on  every  side  for  publishing 
an  account  which  spoke  well  of  the  Prussians.  At  that 
time  there  were  about  250  Americans  in  the  city. 

On  October  4th,  the  i6th  day  of  the  siege,  I  recorded 
the  following  in  my  diary  : 

"  I  had  an  unusually  busy  day  to-day  ;  everybody  call- 
ing on  me  to  do  something.  People  now  begin  to  want 
to  get  out  of  the  city ;  and  they  are  very  persistent.  The 
most  persistent  and  unreasonable  had  the  least  occasion 
to  remain.  Great  quiet  to-day  and  no  event  of  the  least 
public  interest.  The  people  of  Paris  are  becoming  very 
sober  and  much  discouraged.  It  seems  to  be  understood 
that  the  Provinces  are  doing  nothing.  If  that  be  so,  the 
'  jig  is  up,'  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  how 
long  Paris  will  hold  out.  It  can  resist  shells  and  bom- 
bardments, but  it  cannot  resist  starvation.  The  long  pro- 
cessions at  the  butcher  shops  are  ominous." 

October  5th,  i;th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  The  day  lovely,  as  usual,  and  a  great  many  people  on 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY.    189 

the  streets,  much  parading  of  the  military  and  a  little 
cannonading.  Being  on  a  committee  with  the  Nuncio, 
Mr.  Kern  and  Baron  Zuylen,  the  Holland  Minister,  to 
draw  up  a  paper  to  Bismarck,  went  to  the  residence  of  the 
Nuncio  at  two  P.M.  After  that,  at  3.30  P.M.,  went  to  the 
Prefecture  of  the  Police  with  one  of  my  countrymen  who 
had  been  badly  treated." 

October  6th,  i8th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  For  the  first  time  for  weeks  we  have  had  a  dull, 
foggy  morning.  The  servant  comes  in  and  says  the 
streets  are  vacant  and  sombre.  My  feelings  are  in  ac- 
cord with  the  appearance  of  the  streets.  This  being  shut 
off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  world,  when  you  are  on 
dry  land,  is  becoming  tedious. 

"  (Evening).  The  day  has  run  out  without  any  incident 
of  importance.  Some  little  glimmer  of  news  has  come 
in  from  the  Prussians  and  the  Parisians  are  a  little  more 
cheerful.  But  it  all  amounts  to  nothing,  in  my  judgment. 
Nothing  is  being  done.  The  days  go  and  the  provisions 
go.  Speaking  of  provisions,  I  saw  day  before  yesterday 
in  the  street  a  barrel  of  flour  made  at  Waverly,  Iowa, 
some  seventy  or  eighty  miles  west  of  Galena. 

"  Made  a  visit  to  the  Prefect  of  Police,  Count  de  Ke- 
ratry,  now  '  Citizen  '  de  Keratry.  He  formerly  belonged 
to  the  French  army,  and  is  regarded  as  a  man  of  courage 
and  ability.  He  spoke  quite  hopefully  about  affairs,  but 
I  do  not  see  it.  Curious  place  is  that  old,  dismal,  dilapi- 
dated, gloomy,  sombre,  dirty  Prefecture  of  Police,  the 
theatre  of  so  many  crimes  and  so  many  punishments. 
If  those  frowning  walls  could  speak,  what  tales  of  horror 
they  might  tell !  Here  were  the  head-quarters  of  Pietri, 
that  Prefect  of  Police  who  had  become  so  odious  under 
the  Empire.  And  what  may  be  esteemed  a  little  curi- 
ous under  this  new  deal,  I  have  learned  that  the  same 


190 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 


system  is  in  actual  operation  now  as  was  under  the 
Empire." 

October  7th,  igth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  The  weather  is  changing  at  last ;  the  morning  was 
quite  cool,  the  afternoon  cloudy  and  raining  a  little  as  I 
came  in  to  dinner  this  evening.  There  has  been  a  good 
deal  of  cannonading  to-day,  and,  I  presume,  as  usual 
without  results.  There  is  still  a  little  more  news  from 
the  outside  to-day  which  is  interpreted  as  favorable. 
The  balloon  went  off  at  eleven  this  morning  with  six 
passengers,  including  Gambetta  and  two  Americans.  A 
large  crowd  saw  it  move  off,  amid  great  excitement. 
I  hope  that  we  shall  hear  that  it  landed  safely.  A 
very  quiet  day  at  the  legation.  Drove  down  town  this 
afternoon  and  went  as  far  as  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where 
all  was  quiet.  I  have  never  seen  such  a  change  in  my 
life,  and  one  can  hardly  believe  that  we  are  in  a  be- 
sieged city.  At  five  o'clock  P.M.  I  called  on  Jules  Favre 
on  an  unofficial  matter." 

October  8th,  evening,  2oth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  came  to  the  legation  this  morning  to  finish  a  de- 
spatch to  the  State  Department  and  to  write  some  let- 
ters to  send  out  by  the  Minister  of  Colombia.  To  my 
surprise,  I  found  that  General  Burnside  had  been  at  the 
legation,  having  come  in  with  Mr.  Forbes  from  the  Prus- 
sian lines.  They  have  now  gone  down  to  report  to  Gen- 
eral Trochu,  and  G—  -  has  gone  down  to  the  Foreign 
Office  to  arrange  for  an  interview  to-morrow,  with  Jules 
Favre.  I  shall  go  with  them,  and  they  will  stay  at  my 
house,  No.  75  Avenue  de  1'Imperatrice.  They  leave 
day  after  to-morrow  to  go  through  the  Prussian  lines. 
They  bring  letters  but  no  later  London  papers  than 
we  had  before.  They  bring  a  few  American  papers, 
among  them  the  Washington  Republican  of  the  i6th 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    191 

ult.  This  has  been  a  blue,  dull,  rainy  day,  in  Paris. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  discontent  brewing,  and  I  un- 
derstand there  was  a  large  demonstration  at  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  this  afternoon,  but  I  have  not  heard  the  re- 
sult. No  news  from  the  balloon  that  went  out  yester- 
day. I  am  quite  anxious,  as  there  were  two  Americans 
in  it.  I  should  not  tell  the  truth,  if  I  said  it  was  not 
getting  a  little  dull.  This  long  absence  of  all  news 
from  the  outside  world  is  depressing,  and  this  dull 
weather  coming  on.  makes  it  worse." 

October  gth,  2ist  day  of  the  siege. 

"All  very  comfortably  lodged  at  No.  75  Avenue  de 
1'Imperatrice.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  Gen- 
eral Burnside  and  Mr.  Forbes.  A  very  good  break- 
fast, and  a  very  good  dinner  for  starvation  times.  At 
nine  o'clock,  M.  Jules  Favre  met  these  two  gentlemen  by 
appointment  at  my  house  and  had  an  interview  of  half  an 
hour,  but  of  too  confidential  a  character  to  be  alluded  to 
here.  I  have  been  quite  busy  the  rest  of  the  day  writing 
despatches  and  letters.  Quite  a  number  of  callers  after 
dinner.  At  nine  o'clock  General  Burnside  and  myself 
made  a  call  upon  some  friends  at  the  house  of  an  Ameri- 
can. Nearly  all  the  people  there  were  French — Barons 
and  Counts  and  Marquises,  but  now  pretty  much  played 
out.  A  Frenchman  was  telling  me  of  a  meeting  of 
Amazons  he  had  attended  the  night  before,  which  illus- 
trates the  character  of  the  French  people  and  recalls  to 
mind  the  scenes  of  the  first  Revolution.  Though  it  was 
advertised  that  no  men  would  be  admitted  to  the  meet- 
ing, that  was  just  the  reason  why  there  were  more  men 
than  women  present.  First,  a  half  crazed  young  fellow 
mounted  the  table  and  announced  that  he  had  a  plan  that 
would  enable  the  patriotic  women  of  Paris  to  accomplish 
great  results.  He  proposed  that  each  woman  should  arm 


1 92   MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

herself  with  a  thimble  in  which  there  should  be  prussic 
acid,  and  by  that  means  she  could  crown  herself  with  dead 
Prussians.  This  proposition  was  received  with  thunders 
of  applause.  Then  another  Frenchman  arose  in  the 
crowd  and  denounced  the  proposition  of  his  brother.  It 
was  assassination,  and  not  war,  and  Frenchmen  abhorred 
assassination.  Then  came  louder  applause  than  followed 
the  first  speaker,  the  thimble  man.  That  encouraged  the 
second  orator,  who  jumped  upon  the  table,  collared  his 
antagonist  and  pitched  him  into  the  crowd  amid  yells 
and  vociferations.  And  now  on  and  on  they  went  with 
this  sort  of  nonsense  for  four  hours,  calling  it  '  saving 
France.'  Weather  rainy  and  unpleasant,  but  made  very 
cheerful  by  the  glowing  fire  in  the  petit  salon.  This  fin- 
ishes the  third  week  of  the  siege  and  the  fifth  week  of 
the  new  republic." 

October  loth,  22d  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  was  very  busy  until  noon  to-day  getting  the  bag 
ready  to  send  off  by  General  Burnside.  I  determined  to 
send  Antoine  with  him  to  take  the  bag  from  Versailles  to 
London  and  to  bring  back  the  bag  from  London  and  one 
from  Brest.  Another  interview  by  Burnside,  Forbes  and 
myself  with  General  Trochu  and  M.  Jules  Favre,  and  it 
lasted  an  hour  and  a  half  and  was  very  interesting.  Our 
American  friends  left  No.  75  at  a  quarter  before  three 
o'clock  precisely  to  go  into  the  Prussian  lines.  Their 
arrival  in  Paris  created  a  great  excitement.  There 
were  some  twenty  people  at  the  house  to  see  them  off. 
They  were  accompanied  to  the  Prussian  lines  by  an 
aide  of  Trochu  and  my  Secretary  of  Legation,  and 
were  delivered  over  this  time  without  any  delay." 

News  crept  in  on  the  morning  of  October  2,  that 
Strasburg  and  Toul  had  fallen.  This  created  a  very 
sad  impression  all  over  the  city.  Public  opinion  was 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    193 


voiced  by  Gambetta,  who  issued  a  proclamation  saying 
that,  "  in  falling,  these  places  cast  a  glance  toward 
Paris  to  affirm  once  more  the  unity  and  indivisibility 
of  the  republic  ;  that  they  leave  us  a  legacy,  the  duty 
to  deliver  them,  the  honor  to  avenge  them."  Louis 
Blanc  made  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  England,  and 
he  called  upon  the  Englishmen  in  Paris  to  bear  witness 
to  the  fact  that  the  win- 
dows of  the  Louvre 
were  being  stuffed  with 
sand  bags  to  preserve 
the  treasures  there  from 
the  risks  of  bombard- 
ment. The  clubs  began 
to  denounce  the  gov- 
ernment. The  Mayor 
changed  the  names  of 
the  streets,  and  the 
Avenue  de  1'Impera- 
trice  was  changed  in 
name  to  the  Avenue 
"  Uhrich,"  a  hero  of 
the  passing  hour.  The 
journals  continued  to 
publish  the  Tuileries  papers,  which  ministered  to  the 
morbid  taste  of  a  portion  of  the  public.  Paris  wore  a 
sombre  aspect.  The  guns  from  the  forts  no  longer 
attracted  much  attention.  There  were  very  few  car- 
riages in  the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  cafes  chantants 
disappeared.  The  aspect  of  the  villages  outside  of 
Paris,  at  this  time,  was  a  sad  one.  The  houses  were 
deserted,  the  streets  were  vacant,  but  one  would  con- 
stantly run  across  certain  inscriptions  intended  to  be 
insulting  to  the  common  enemy,  such  as  "  Mort  aux 
13 


The  Statue  of  Strasburg   Decorated  by  the   People. 


MONOTONOUS  DATS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

Prussicns"  "  Deux  tetes  pour  trois  sous,  Bismarck  et 
Guttlaume"  And  that  is  called  making  war  ! 

October  i3th,  25th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Quite  an  incident  to-day ;  a  package  of  London 
newspapers,  a  letter  from  General  Burnside  and  one 
from  Count  Bismarck  were  left  at  the  legation  this  after- 
noon. The  latest  London  date  is  the  i6th  ult.  The 
news  looks  bad  for  France.  The  letter  from  Bismarck  is 
clever  and  complimentary,  and  alludes  to  matters  which  I 
cannot  properly  mention  here.  Colonel  Hoffman,  my 
son  and  myself  dined  with  a  Mr.  Lazard  to-night,  who  is 
a  German  American  and  who  now  lives  in  Paris.  The 
result  of  the  fighting  seems  to  have  been  as  unfavorable 
as  usual  to  the  French.  The  Palace  of  St.  Cloud  is  re- 
ported to  be  a  heap  of  ruins,  destroyed  by  the  shells  sent 
by  the  French  from  Mont  Valerien.  Where  will  all  this 
end  ?  " 

October  I4th,  26th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  A  short  story  for  to-day.  I  was  very  strangely  at- 
tacked last  night  at  midnight  by  great  dizziness  followed 
by  a  violent  vomiting  for  two  hours.  I  will  only  sit  up  a 
moment  to-day  to  jot  down  this  memorandum  in  my 
diary.  Antoine  returned  from  Versailles  this  evening, 
the  German  authorities  there  haying  refused  to  let  him 
go  to  London.  He  brought  me  a  few  late  London  pa- 
pers, but  no  letters.  No  events  in  the  town  worth  re- 
cording." 

October  i5th,  2/th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  only  sit  up  long  enough  to  record  this  day's  events, 
or  rather  not  to  record  them,  for  I  hear  nothing  worth 
setting  down.  Many  people  have  been  to  see  me — but 
the  same  old  story  to  tell  them  :  '  No  news.'  I  have  had 
quite  a  fe*ast  in  reading  some  London  newspapers  as  well 
as  two  or  three  American  papers  of  an  old  date.  I  am 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    195 

suffering  much  all  day.  The  cold  feet  and  the  ague-pains 
in  my  limbs  bring  back  to  me  memories  of  Galena  in 
early  times." 

October  i6th,  28th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Dull,  cold,  rainy  day.  Though  I  was  able  to  get  up 
and  dress  and  go  down  to  dinner,  I  have  not  been  out 
of  doors.  I  cannot  hear  any  news.  The  funeral  of  the 
Count  Dampierre,  Chief  of  the  Battalion  de  1'Aube,  who 
was  killed  on  Friday  last,  took  place  to-day  in  the  Made- 
leine. It  was  most  numerously  attended  and  a  very  pro- 
found impression  was  produced.  He  was  young,  brave, 
patriotic  and  possessed  of  a  large  fortune.  He  was  shot 
while  leading  his  battalion.  His  young  wife  had  died 
three  years  before,  and  his  last  words  were  an  expression 
of  satisfaction  that  he  was  going  to  join  her  in  another 
world.  How  many  gallant  men  on  both  sides  are  yield- 
ing up  their  spirits  in  this  dreadful  war  !  It  is  now  four 
weeks  since  the  siege  commenced,  and  very  little  has  been 
done  as  yet  on  either  side.  With  the  exception  of  two 
days,  when  the  French  have  made  attacks,  there  has  been 
a  most  profound  quiet.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  most 
terrible  calm  will  soon  be  broken  by  events  which  will 
stir  the  world  at  large.  In  and  surrounding  Paris  are 
nearly  a  million  of  men  in  arms,  and  inspired  with  a 
deadly  hate  of  each  other." 

October  ryth,  2Qth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  went  to  the  legation  quite  early  this  morning  and 
have  been  busy  all  day.  Many  people  called.  At  noon  went 
to  the  prison  of  St.  Lazare ;  I  found  seventy-four  German 
women  in  prison,  for  no  offence  except  being  Germans. 
They  were  induced  under  various  pretexts  and  promises 
to  remain  after  the  siege  commenced,  and  then  they 
were  all  arrested  and  sent  to  prison.  I  have  made  ar- 
rangements to  have  them  all  released  to-morrow,  and 


196   MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

shall  have  them  cared  for  until  the  siege  is  over.  When 
I  called  and  explained  to  them  what  I  proposed  to  do, 
many  of  them  shed  tears.  They  have  been  on  rations 
of  the  very  lowest  diet ;  not  a  morsel  of  meat  is  now 
dealt  out  to  them.  It  seems  to  be  now  quite  clean  in 
the  prison,  and  many  Sisters  of  Charity  are  in  attend- 
ance. At  5  P.M.  called  to  see  M.  Jules  Favre  about  send- 
ing a  parlementaire  out  with  my  despatch  bag,  and  about 
getting  permission  for  the  Americans  to  leave  Paris.  A 
good  deal  of  cannonading  all  day  but  no  results." 

I  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  relation  to  getting  the 
Americans  out  of  Paris.  Through  the  intervention  of 
General  Burnside,  I  obtained  permission  from  Count  Bis- 
marck for  all  the  Americans  to  go  through  their  lines,  in 
a  letter  which  he  addressed  me,  dated  Versailles,  October 
1 9th,  1870,  and  which  is  as  follows  : 

SIR  :  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter,  dated  the  lyth  instant, 
concerning  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  citizens  from  Paris.  In  an- 
swer, I  beg  to  say  that  your  countrymen  will  be  permitted  to  pass 
through  our  lines,  if  provided  with  passports  delivered  by  you,  and  stat- 
ing that  they  are  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  departure  should 
be  taken  by  the  Porte  de  Creteil.  Recent  experiences,  and  a  decision 
adopted,  in  consequence,  by  our  military  authorities,  make  it  necessary 
that  all  persons  leaving  Paris  for  the  purpose  of  passing  through  our 
lines  should  be  earnestly  warned  that  they  are  not  allowed  to  carry  any 
parcels,  letters  or  communications  whatsoever  besides  those  to  be  de- 
livered to  our  outposts,  and  that  any  contravention  in  this  respect  will 
unfailingly  bring  down  upon  them  the  full  rigor  of  martial  law.  I  beg 
you  will  be  good  enough  to  have  it  stated  on  the  passports  that  the 
bearer  has  been  warned  accordingly. 

With  the  expression  of  my  highest  respects,  I  remain,  sir,  etc.,  etc. 

BISMARCK. 

His  Excellency,  E.  B.  WASHBURNE, 
Minister  of  the  United  States,  Paris. 

My  diary  continues  : 

October  2Oth,  32d  day  of  the  siege. 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.    197 

"  I  have  omitted  the  3Oth  and  3ist  days  of  the  siege 
on  account  of  indisposition.  On  Tuesday,  the  3Oth  day 
of  the  siege,  I  was  at  the  legation  all  day,  and  very  much 
engaged,  although  feeling  quite  ill.  On  the  3ist  day 
of  the  siege  was  in  bed  all  day  and  suffering  a  good 
deal.  I  thought  I  should  be  able  to  get  up  and  go  down 
stairs  to  breakfast,  but  I  found  it  impossible  to  sit  up,  and 
was  therefore  obliged  to  take  to  my  bed  again.  I  hear 
of  nothing  transpiring  which  is  of  any  interest.  I  am 
afraid  that  even  now,  when  I  have  got  Bismarck's  permis- 
sion to  have  the  Americans  go  through  their  lines,  that 
the  French  will  refuse.  I  sent  off  official  despatches  yes- 
terday morning  by  a  flag  of  truce  into  the  Prussian  lines, 
to  be  sent  to  London  by  a  Prussian  messenger.  It  may 
be  of  interest  to  know  the  names  and  the  number  of 
newspapers  published  this  day,  as  follows  :  La  Verite, 
Le  Reveil,  Le  Rappel,  Le  Paris  Journal,  Le  Figaro,  La 
Cloche,  Le  Peuple  Francais,  La  Gazette  de  France,  Le 
National,  La  Tribune  du  Peuple,  La  Patrie  en  Danger, 
Le  Combat,  Le  Journal  de  Paris,  L'Avant-Garde,  Le 
Journal  des  Debats,  L'Avenir  National,  Le  Siecle, 
L'Opinion  Nationale,  L'Univers,  La  France,  Le  Gaulois, 
L'Electeur  Libre,  Le  Journal  Officiel — total,  23.  It  may 
well  be  asked  if  there  was  ever  before  a  city  besieged 
which  published  twenty-three  daily  newspapers  !  Some 
of  these  papers  are  able,  but  the  amount  of  absolute 
trash,  taken  all  together,  surpasses  anything  in  his- 
tory." 

On  October  igth  Count  Bismarck  wrote  me  still  fur- 
ther in  relation  to  certain  persons  in  Paris,  not  French, 
leaving  the  city,  and  said  that  he  had  written  to  M.  Jules 
Favre  that  they  could  only  leave  on  the  condition  that 
their  identity  and  nationality  should  be  verified  and  at- 
tested by  me.  He  expressed  the  regret  that  in  addition 


198   MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY. 

to  so  much  trouble,  he  should  be  obliged  to  draw  still  fur- 
ther upon  my  kindness.  In  view  of  so  many  persons 
leaving  Paris  who  were  required  to  have  my  passports,  I 
got  out  a  printed  form  for  a  special  passport,  to  which  I 
affixed  my  signature  and  the  seal  of  the  legation.  On 
the  back  I  placed  the  following  indorsement,  which  was 
required  to  be  signed  by  every  person  holding  a  laissez- 
passcr  : 

"  Departure  through  the  Creteil  gate.  The  under- 
signed, whose  name  is  in  the  passport  on  the  opposite 
page,  admits  that  he  has  been  notified  by  the  aforesaid 
minister  of  the  United  States  that  he  can  be  the  bearer 
of  no  newspapers,  letter  or  package,  except  personal  bag- 
gage, under  penalty  of  military  law." 

On  October  2ist  I  wrote  to  Count  Bismarck  at  Ver- 
sailles, in  relation  to  the  subjects  of  the  North  German 
Confederation  who  still  remained  in  Paris.  I  stated 
that  it  was  no  wonder  that,  in  so  large  a  German  popu- 
lation as  there  was  in  Paris  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  quite  a  number  of  them  should  still  be  found  in  the 
city,  when  communication  was  cut  off.  Some  were  too 
old  and  some  were  too  sick  to  leave  ;  some  were  children 
without  protectors,  but  the  greater  number  were  female 
domestics,  most  of  whom  had  been  persuaded  to  remain 
with  their  employers  under  pledges  of  protection.  As 
the  siege  progressed,  these  poor  people,  either  abandoned 
by  their  employers  or  denounced  to  the  authorities,  were 
turned  into  the  streets,  only  to  be  arrested  and  cast  into 
prison.  I  stated  further  that  I  had  a  few  days  before 
made  a  personal  visit  to  the  prison  of  St.  Lazare  (which 
was  for  female  prisoners),  and  I  had  found  there  no  less 
than  seventy-four  persons  of  that  class,  subjects  of  the  dif- 
ferent German  powers  at  war  with  France  ;  that  I  had 
lost  no  time  in  arranging  for  their  release  and  had  them 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED  CITY.    199 

all  comfortably  cared  for  and  upon  reasonable  terms.  I 
already  had  some  twenty  others,  mostly  females,  whom  I 
had  provided  for,  making  a  total  of  about  one  hundred. 
The  government  of  the  National  Defence  had  acted  very 
well  in  this  matter,  and  had  promised  me  that  these  poor 
people  should  have  full  protection.  The  fund  that  had 
been  so  generously  placed  in  my  hands  by  the  German 
government  had  given  me  sufficient  means  to  care  for 
the  Germans  then  remaining  in  Paris.  I  stated  to  Count 
Bismarck  that  in  using  the  fund  as  I  had  done,  I  was 
sure  that  I  correctly  interpreted  the  humane  and  generous 
sentiments  of  the  royal  government  toward  its  unfortu- 
nate subjects  then  in  Paris,  whose  sufferings  and  distress 
I  had  been  compelled  to  witness  since  the  commencement 
of  the  war. 

Entry  in  my  diary,  October  2ist,  33d  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Was  able  to  go  to  the  legation  to-day,  and  have  been 
busy  all  day.  At  5  P.M.  went  to  see  M.  Jules  Favre 
about  Americans  leaving  Paris.  Pressure  to  get  out  is 
getting  to  be  very  great.  All  the  nationalities  are  now 
calling  upon  me,  and  I  believe  that  I  am  charged  with 
the  protection  of  half  of  the  nationalities  of  the  earth.  It 
is  understood  that  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  fighting 
to-day,  but  nothing  has  been  heard  at  General  Trochu's 
head-quarters  up  to  6.30  this  evening.  I  think  that  is 
ominous  ;  if  the  French  had  been  successful  there  cer- 
tainly would  have  been  some  news  of  it." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  I  was  in  constant  discussion 
with  Trochu  and  M.  Jules  Favre  in  relation  to  getting 
the  Americans  out  of  the  city.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
interview  which  I  had  with  these  two  gentlemen.  One 
afternoon,  accompanied  by  my  secretary,  I  went  with 
Jules  Favre  to  the  head-quarters  of  Trochu,  and  was 
ushered  into  a  private  salon.  Trochu,  notified  of  our 


200  MOXOTOXOUS  DATS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

presence,  soon  appeared.  Coming  in  with  slippers  and 
dressing-gown,  he  did  not  look  much  like  a  soldier. 
The  discussion  was  entered  upon,  and  Trochu  was  evi- 
dently prepared  to  antagonize  every  proposal  I  should 
make  in  respect  to  the  Americans  leaving  the  city  ; 
and  I  must  say  I  was  never  more  surprised  in  my  life 
than  at  the  arguments  he  adduced  and  the  reasons 


Porte  de   Creteil. 


he  presented.  He  would  strut  up  and  down  the  room 
talking  about  the  susceptibility  of  the  French  character, 
posing  in  the  most  remarkable  manner  and  striking  his 
breast.  I  think  one  of  the  arguments  he  used  was  that 
nobody  could  fully  see  the  emotion  that  it  would  create 
among  the  French  people  when  they  saw  the  Ameri- 
cans moving  out  through  the  Ave.  d'ltalie  to  the  Porte 
de  Creteil,  and  how  much  danger  there  was  that  a  riot 
might  be  created  by  such  a  sight  which  might  lead  to 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.   201 

the  gravest  consequences.  I  declined  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  puerile  reasons  which  he  presented,  but  insisted 
that  my  nationaux  should  be  permitted  to  leave  the 
city,  particularly  as  they  had  received  the  permission 
of  the  German  authorities  to  pass  through  their  lines ; 
that  that  permission  I  had  obtained  in  the  full  belief 
and  understanding  that  a  like  permission  would  be 
granted  by  the  French ;  and  that  I  then  felt  bound  to  in- 
sist upon  its  being  given.  Indeed,  I  intimated  some  ul- 
terior measure  if  I  did  not  receive  this  permission.  As 
I  was  the  only  man  then  in  Paris  through  whom  the 
French  could  have  any  communication  with  the  Germans, 
Jules  Favre  evidently  saw  how  important  it  was  that  I 
should  be  satisfied.  Indeed,  he  always  behaved  very  well 
on  this  subject,  and  expressed  a  great  desire  that  my 
wishes  should  be  complied  with.  The  result  was,  after  an 
almost  interminable  gabble  for  three  hours,  that  it  was 
finally  agreed  that  I  should  have  the  permission.  A  day 
was  agreed  upon  (October  27th)  when  the  Americans  and 
all  others  who  held  my  passes  might  go  out. 

It  was  a  large  cavalcade  ;  a  line  was  formed  which 
passed  out  of  the  city  under  military  escort,  and  which 
proceeded  to  the  Porte  de  Creteil.  I  sent  an  attache  of 
the  legation  to  accompany  this  cavalcade,  who  made  a 
full  report  to  me  of  the  proceedings  and  of  the  parties 
who  went  out  at  that  time.  There  were  forty-eight 
Americans,  men,  women  and  children,  and  nineteen  car- 
riages, and  also  a  Russian  convoy  of  seven  carriages  and 
twenty-one  persons,  having  my  passes.  The  passes  were 
all  closely  examined  before  the  persons  holding  them 
could  pass  the  French  lines.  I  refer  to  this  episode  in 
the  following  entries  in  my  diary : 

October  22d,  34th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  This  has  been  a  raw,  chilly,  lonesome  day  and  I  think 


202   MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

there  have  been  more  '  blue  devils '  about  than  on  any 
other  day  during  the  siege.  The  meat  ration  (fresh 
meat)  has  been  cut  down  to  one-eighth  of  a  pound  for 
two  days.  But  even  that  much  meat  cannot  be  had. 
Mule  meat  has  come  into  requisition,  and  is  regarded  as 
superior  to  horse  meat.  The  Parisians  are  standing  up 
pretty  well  under  their  deprivations.  They  are  showing, 
however,  symptoms  of  lawlessness,  for  a  few  days.  The 
people  of  the  city  have  been  going  outside  of  the  ram- 
parts into  the  small  villages  and  robbing  the  houses.  No 
effort  is  made  to  stop  it,  so  far  as  I  can  learn.  We  are 
awaiting  the  official  report  of  the  fighting  yesterday,  but 
from  what  I  gather,  there  were  no  particular  results  for 
the  French.  Thirty-five  of  their  wounded  were  brought 
into  the  American  ambulance.  I  had  an  interview  with 
Trochu  this  afternoon  on  the  subject  of  the  Americans 
leaving  Paris.  It  was  far  from  satisfactory,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  tell  what  the  French  government  is  driving 
at.  I  shall,  however,  get  out  about  a  dozen  to-morrow. 
I  hope  the  people  who  have  been  waiting  a  long  time, 
and  are  very  anxious  to  leave,  will  be  permitted  to  go. 
Bismarck  requires  that  all  people  leaving  the  city  to  go 
through  the  Prussian  lines,  shall  have  my  pass.  That  is 
going  to  bring  a  great  many  persons  to  the  legation.  I 
now  must  have  as  many  as  ten  different  nationalities  un- 
der my  protection.  I  was  at  my  house,  No.  75  Avenue 
de  1'Imperatrice,  to-day.  The  whole  avenue  is  now  bar- 
ricaded, except  as  you  enter  it  by  the  Arc  de  Triomphe, 
and  so  we  have  to  go  around  by  the  back  streets  to  get 
to  the  house.  It  looks  dismal." 

October  23d,  35th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  A  long,  dull,  tedious  Sunday,  and  raining  the  first 
part  of  the  day.  Am  arranging  to  get  all  the  people  out 
who  have  passes.  They  were  to  leave  to-morrow  at  noon, 


MONOTONOUS  DAYS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.  203 

but  I  have  just  learned  they  are  to  be  detained  another 
day.  There  is  no  end  to  the  delays,  vexations  and  an- 
noyances of  this  business.  Went  to  see  Jules  Favre  this 
evening  and  talked  it  all  over,  once  more,  for  an  hour. 
I  should  have  no  trouble  if  I  had  him  alone  to  deal  with. 
Arranged  for  a  meeting  at  noon  to-morrow.  After  leav- 
ing, went  to  the  Moultons  and  met  many  people  there, 
mostly  our  countrymen  and  countrywomen.  On  the 
whole  they  were  in  pretty  good  spirits.  To-day  com- 
pletes the  fifth  week  of  the  siege,  beginning  from  Sep- 
tember 1 8th.  Some  count  from  Saturday,  September 
1 7th,  but  I  count  from  Sunday  the  i8th,  because  tele- 
graphic communication  was  kept  up  with  the  outside 
world  until  the  afternoon  of  that  day." 

October  24th,  36th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Interview  to-day  with  Trochu  and  Jules  Favre  at 
noon  on  the  subject  of  the  departure  of  the  Ameri- 
cans from  Paris.  This  has  been  a  very  embarrassing 
question  and  I  had  feared  unpleasant  results,  for  if  the 
government  had  insisted  on  its  refusal  I  should  have 
had  to  appeal  to  our  government  for  instructions.  As 
it  was,  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  had 
declined  to  permit  the  departure  of  foreigners.  Con- 
sidering the  situation  of  so  many  countrymen  in  Paris 
desirous  of  leaving,  I  felt  bound  to  insist  on  permission 
for  their  departure.  It  was  only  after  long  and  fre- 
quent interviews  with  Favre  and  Trochu  that  I  was 
able  to  procure  that  permission.  The  English  and 
Russians  were  also  permitted  to  go,  but  the  Prussian 
government  required  that  every  person  leaving  Paris 
must  have  my  laissez-passer ;  so  to  morrow  and  next 
day  I  shall  be  very  busy  in  getting  all  of  these  peo- 
ple away.  To-day  I  have  been  constantly  occupied  in 
getting  off  my  bag.  I  only  got  through  and  reached 


2O4 


MONOTONOUS  DAI'S  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 


my  lodgings  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  There  have 
been  no  military  operations  since  last  Friday." 

On  October  25th,  the  37th  day  of  the  siege,  I  find  this 
entry  :  "  Dull,  rainy  day,  but  many  people  calling  at  the 
legation  about  leaving  Paris  on  Thursday.  Some  of  the 
most  clamorous  to  go,  now  decline  doing  so,  when  they 
have  the  opportunity.  No  news  and  nothing  of  interest 
transpiring.  Feeling  quite  unwell  I  retire  early." 

On  October  2Qth  Count  Bismarck  addressed  me  a 
communication  in  respect  to  Dr.  Fontaine,  a  Prussian 
subject  and  a  well  known  historian.  He  said  that  while 
travelling  for  literary  purposes  in  French  districts  he  had 
been  arrested  and  carried  to  Besangon,  where  his  life  ap- 
peared to  be  in  danger.  He  declared  that  there  was 
nothing  to  justify  such  a  proceeding  against  an  inoffen- 
sive scholar,  and  he  begged  me  to  demand  formally  his 
release  by  the  provisional  government,  and  to  state  ex- 
plicitly that  in  case  of  refusal,  a  certain  number  of  persons 
of  analogous  condition  of  life  would  be  arrested  in  differ- 
ent towns  of  France  and  taken  to  Germany  to  undergo 
the  same  kind  of  treatment,  whatever  it  might  be,  that 
should  be  reserved  for  Dr.  Fontaine  in  France.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  upon  my  bringing  the  sub- 
ject to  the  attention  of  M.  Jules  Favre  the  release  of  Dr. 
Fontaine  was  promptly  ordered  ;  for  it  was  understood 
from  the  communication  from  Count  Bismarck  to  me  that 
he  "  meant  business." 

On  the  same  day  Count  Bismarck  also  addressed  me 
the  following  letter,  enclosing  a  memoir  which  is  set  out 
in  full : 

VERSAILLES,  October  29,  1870. 

SIR  :  Having  before  them  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  government 
of  National  Defence,  to  continue  a  hopeless  struggle  and  to  defend  Paris 
as  long  as  provisions  will  last,  the  government  of  His  Majesty  have  felt 
obliged  to  give  their  attention  to  the  consequences  which  the  carrying 


MONOTONOUS  DATS  AV  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.   205 

out  of  that  resolution  will  entail  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Paris,  consist- 
ing, as  they  do,  for  a  great  part  of  foreigners.  By  a  memoir  communi- 
cated to  foreign  cabinets  some  weeks  since,  we  have  declined  any  re- 
sponsibility for  the  sufferings  to  which  the  residents  will  find  themselves 
exposed  when  the  resources  are  exhausted,  and  when,  owing  to  the  waste 
laid  all  around  Paris  by  order  of  the  French  Government  at  an  extent 
of  three  or  four  days'  marching,  it  will  be  impossible  to  provide  the  sur- 
vivors with  food  or  to  transport  them  beyond  the  zone  of  destruction. 

While  sending  you  a  translation  of  the  said  memoir,  I  take  the  liberty 
of  earnestly  calling  your  attention  to  the  considerations  detailed  therein 
and  bearing  directly  upon  the  interests  of  those  American  residents  who, 
either  by  their  condition  of  life  or  for  want  of  means,  have  been  obliged 
to  remain  at  Paris. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  highest  consideration,  your  obedient 
servant, 

BISMARCK. 

His  Excellency,  Mr.  WASHBURNE, 

Minister  of  the  United  States. 


MEMOIR. 

Mr.  Jules  Favre  and  his  colleagues  have  rejected  the  proposal  of  an 
armistice,  the  conditions  of  which  would  have  afforded  to  France  the 
starting-point  for  a  return  to  a  regular  order  of  things.  So  they  pro- 
nounce for  the  continuation  of  a  struggle  which,  to  judge  by  the  march 
of  events  up  to  the  present  day,  does  not  offer  any  prospect  of  success 
to  the  French  nation.  The  chances  of  this  struggle,  demanding  so 
heavy  sacrifices,  have  constantly  gone  from  bad  to  worse  for  France. 
Toul  and  Strasburg  have  fallen,  Paris  is  strictly  invested,  and  the  Ger- 
man troops  are  extending  their  incursions  to  the  banks  of  the  Loire. 
The  considerable  forces  assembled  before  those  two  fortresses  are  now 
disengaged  awaiting  further  orders  of  the  commander-in-chief.  The 
country  will  have  to  undergo  the  consequences  of  a  war  a  outrange  re- 
solved upon  by  the  members  of  the  French  Government  at  Paris.  The 
sacrifices  of  the  nation  will  go  on  increasing  to  no  purpose,  and  the  de- 
composition of  society  will  attain  proportions  more  and  more  threaten- 
ing. To  counteract  such  a  course  of  events,  the  leaders  of  the  German 
armies  are  unfortunately  powerless,  but  they  carefully  weigh  and  clearly 
foresee  what  will  be  the  effect  of  the  resistance  proclaimed  by  the  men 
in  power  in  Paris,  and  they  must  call  beforehand  general  attention  to 


206   MONOTONOUS  DATS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY. 

one  point  above  all,  the  particular  condition  of  Paris.  The  more  im- 
portant fights  that  have  taken  place  before  this  capital  till  now  have 
proved  too  evidently  that  Paris  is  doomed  to  fall  after  some  period  of 
longer  or  shorter  duration.  If  that  period  should  be  prolonged  to  the 
day  when  capitulation  will  be  necessitated  by  want  of  food,  terrible  ef- 
fects will  be  produced.  The  destruction  of  railways,  bridges,  and 
canals,  absurdly  executed  within  a  certain  radius  (of  about  50  English 
miles)  around  Paris,  did  not  arrest  the  progress  of  our  armies.  As  far 
as  communications  are  required  for  us,  they  have  been  restored  by  us. 
But  what  remains  unrepaired  will,  even  after  a  capitulation,  interrupt 
the  traffic  between  the  capital  and  the  provinces  for  a  long  time  to 
come.  In  such  a  predicament  the  chiefs  of  the  German  army  would 
find  themselves  in  the  absolute  impossibility  to  furnish  a  population  of 
nearly  two  millions  with  food,  be  it  only  for  twenty-four  hours.  The 
environs  of  Paris  would  likewise,  within  several  days'  marches,  be  de- 
void of  every  kind  of  resources,  including  means  of  locomotion  capable 
of  removing  the  Prussians  to  the  provinces.  The  inevitable  consequence 
would  be  starvation  of  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  French  rulers  can- 
not but  foresee  these  consequences  as  clearly  as  the  leaders  of  the  Ger- 
man armies,  yet  they  leave  to  the  latter  no  alternative  but  to  follow  up 
the  struggle  which  is  offered  to  them.  He  who  brings  matters  to  ex- 
tremities of  this  kind  will  have  to  bear  the  responsibility  thereof. 

Entry  in  my  diary,  October  3Oth,  420!  day  of  the  siege. 

"  111  health  since  Wednesday  last  has  compelled  me 
to  omit  my  'jottings  down.'  Yesterday,  however,  I  was 
able  to  be  up  and  write  a  number  of  letters.  I  passed 
last  night  at  our  house,  No.  75  Avenue  de  1'Imperatrice, 
and  came  to  Mr.  Hiiffer's  this  morning.  My  health  is 
somewhat  better,  and  I  hope  that  the  attack  which  I  have 
had  will  soon  wear  off.  The  weather  is  very  wretched, 
raining  nearly  all  the  time.  Friday  and  yesterday  some 
little  military  operations.  The  French  captured  a  little 
town  a  short  distance  from  Paris,  Le  Bourget,  and  they 
claim  to  have  held  it  so  far  against  the  attack  of  the 
Prussians ;  but  the  French  newspapers  exaggerate  so  that 
one  cannot  place  any  reliance  on  what  is  found  in  them. 
To-day  completed  the  6th  week  of  the  siege,  and  I  must 


MONOTONOUS  DATS  IN  THE  BESIEGED   CITY.   207 

say  that  within  that  time  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in 
and  around  Paris.  Six  weeks  ago,  accompanied  by  some 
friends,  I  made  an  excursion  through  the  city  and  along 
the  ramparts.  Nothing  was  completed  and  the  confusion 
everywhere  was  immense  Had  the  Prussians  known  the 
weakness  of  Paris,  they  could  have  come  right  in.  It  was 
the  same  as  Washington  after  the  first  battle  of  Bull 
Run.  But  now  the  thing  is  changed,  the  amount  of  work 
which  has  been  done  on  the  defences  is  very  great,  and 
the  troops  have  been  put  into  shape  and  are  under  quite 
good  discipline.  Looking  at  the  ramparts,  it  does  not 
seem  that  the  city  can  be  taken  by  assault.  From  all  I 
can  gather,  I  believe  the  Prussians  intend  a  bombard- 
ment. Every  day  they  have  got  out  their  heavy  guns, 
and  they  will  soon  open  fire  on  the  devoted  city.  The 
French  say  they  cannot  send  their  shells  into  the  city,  but 
we  shall  see.  The  aspect  of  the  Parisian  population  has 
improved  ;  no  more  riots,  no  more  turbulences,  but  more 
sobriety  and  earnestness." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

i 

FIRST    MUTTERINGS    OF    THE    COMMUNE. 

The  Revolution  of  a  Day — Imprisonment  of  the  Government  of  National  De- 
fence— A  Farcical  Proceeding — Leaders  of  the  Red  Republican  Move- 
ment— Speedy  Overthrow  of  their  Municipal  Government — Restoration 
of  Order — Election  Day — A  Large  Majority  in  Favor  of  the  Republic — A 
Dreary  Thanksgiving  Day. 

I  DO  not  find  that  I  made  any  entries  in  my  diary  for 
the  43d  day  of  the  siege,  October  3  i  st.  I  can  only 
account  for  my  failure  to  make  an  entry  on  this  day,  which 
was  nearly  the  most  important  and  interesting  day  dur- 
ing the  siege,  from  the  fact  that  I  ordinarily  made  my 
entries  in  the  evening,  after  the  affairs  of  the  day  were 
over,  but  on  the  evening  of  the  3ist,  I  was  at  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  until  after  six  o'clock,  as  will  be  hereafter  re- 
counted. After  my  dinner  I  was  very  busy  at  the  lega- 
tion in  getting  off  some  despatches. 

Entry  in  my  diary  on  November  ist,  44th  day  of  the 
siege  : 

"  First  as  to  the  events  of  yesterday.  Voila  !  Another 
revolution.  I  was  very  busy  at  the  legation  all  day. 
The  same  night  brought  me  news  of  the  state  of  feeling 
in  the  city.  The  arrival  of  M.  Thiers,  the  surrender  of 
Metz  and  the  disgraceful  affair  of  Le  Bourget  created  pro- 
found emotion  among  all  classes.  The  Reds,  up  to  this 
time,  cowed  by  the  force  of  public  opinion,  now  had  their 
opportunity.  It  had  become  necessary  that  I  should  see 
M.  Jules  Favre  on  an  important  matter,  and  I  went  to  the 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         209 

Foreign  Office  at  half  past  five,  and  on  my  arrival,  for 
the  first  time,  I  learned  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  I 
was  then  told  that  Trochu  had  been  dismissed,  and  that 
Favre  and  all  the  members  of  the  government  of  the  Na- 
tional Defence  had  resigned ;  that  there  was  an  immense 
crowd  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  that  all  was  confusion. 
I  started  immediately  for  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  in  company 
with  a  friend,  and  arrived  there  at  six  o'clock.  When 
within  two  or  three  squares  of  the  Hotel  we  found  the 
Rue  de  Rivoli  blocked  up  with  troops  singing  the  "  Mar- 
seillaise'' "  Mourir  pour  la  Patrie,"  and  other  revolution- 
ary songs.  We  left  our  carriage  and  made  our  way  on 
foot  through  the  dense  crowd  of  people  and  soldiers,  and 
entered  the  building.  There  we  found  mostly  soldiers,  who 
were  roaming  around  with  their  muskets  reversed,  in  the 
magnificent  Hall  of  the  Municipality.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  sort  of  public  meeting  going  on,  and  we  started  to 
mount  the  wooden  staircase.  We  had  scarcely  reached 
the  head  of  the  stairs  when  we  saw  there  had  been  a 
grand  irruption  of  other  soldiers  into  the  building.  They 
appeared  to  be  composed  mostly  of  the  Garde  Mobile 
and  Garde  Sedentaire.  We  immediately  descended  and 
got  out  of  their  way  and  went  around  by  another  stair- 
case, and  finally  got  into  the  hall  by  a  side  door. 

"  This  hall  was  dimly  lighted  by  two  oil  lamps.  The 
room  was  literally  packed  with  soldiers  yelling,  singing, 
disputing  and  speech-making.  The  side  rooms  were  also 
filled  with  soldiers,  who  sat  around  the  tables,  copying 
lists  of  the  new  government,  which  they  called  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Commune.  They  all  seemed  to  regard  the 
revolution  as  an  accomplished  fact,  which  was  only  to  be 
formally  ratified  by  a  vote  of  the  people  of  Paris.  Here 
is  the  list  of  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  government 
of  the  Commune,  handed  to  me  most  politely  by  a  sol- 
14 


2io         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

dier  of  the  Red  Republican  persuasion  :  Felix  Pyat,  Lo- 
rain,  Louis  Blanc,  Delescluze,  Mottu,  Blanqui,  Greppo, 
Malo,  Chapelin,  Dupies,  Muller.  Other  lists  were 
handed  around  differing  somewhat  from  the  above. 

"  From  the  Hotel  de  Ville  I  went  to  my  dinner,  think- 
ing that  the  revolution  had  been  practically  accomplished, 
and  that  we  should  have  a  genuine  Red  Republic.  I  re- 
turned to  the  legation  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  to 
get  my  despatches  ready  to  go  out  in  the  bag  this  morn- 
ing, and  sent  a  gentleman  out  to  seek  reliable  information 
and  to  get  at  the  exact  status  before  closing  my  de- 
spatches. He  soon  brought  back  word  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence  had  not  resigned ;  but  cer- 
tain parties  headed  by  Flourens,  Blanqui  and  others  had 
undertaken  a  coup  d'etat,  had  seized  all  the  members  of 
the  government  and  held  them  all  prisoners  in  a  room  in 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Some  of  the  people  demanded  that 
the  members  of  the  government  should  be  sent  to  the 
prison  of  Vincennes  ;  others  demanded  that  they  should 
be  shot ;  but  Flourens  pledged  his  head  that  he  would 
have  them  safely  guarded  where  they  were. 

"  Then  the  Reds  went  to  work  to  make  up  their  new 
government  in  the  Hall  of  the  Municipality,  at  the  same 
place  where  I  was  at  half  past  six.  A  gentleman  who 
was  present  during  this  time  describes  the  scenes  which 
took  place  as  ludicrous.  There  was  no  harmony  or  con- 
cert among  them,  and  they  were  all  quarrelling  among 
themselves  ;  according  to  him,  they  pulled  the  venerable 
beard,  and  kicked  the  venerable  body  of  the  venerable 
Blanqui,  and  denounced  this  one  and  that  one  as  not 
among  the  patriots.  But  in  all  this  confusion  they  is- 
sued orders  and  gave  commands  like  a  regular  govern- 
ment The  other  government  being  in  jail  while  this 
pleasant  sort  of  amusement  was  going  on,  some  of  the. 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         2 1 1 

National  Guard,  faithful  to  the  government,  got  into 
the  building  and  effected  the  release  of  Trochu  and  Jules 
Ferry,  who  immediately  took  steps  to  release  their  asso- 
ciates from  durance  vile. 

"  At  ten  o'clock  the  '  rap  pel'  was  beaten  all  over 
Paris — that  terrible  sound  which  in  the  first  revolution 
so  often  curdled  the  blood.  I  heard  it  under  the  win- 
dow of  the  legation.  It  meant,  '  every  man  to  his 
post.'  About  ten  o'clock  the  troops  began  to  pour  in 
from  every  direction  towards  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  They 
soon  filled  the  Place  Vendome  and  the  neighboring 
streets,  and  formed  in  a  line  of  battle  in  the  Rue  de 
Castiglione,  which  they  completely  surrounded.  In  the 
presence  of  this  immense  force,  all  shouting  "  Vive  Tro- 
chu/" and  "A  das  la  Commune  /"  the  Red  forces  of  Flou- 
rens  seemed  to  have  realized  their  weakness,  and  before 
midnight  they  had  mostly  disappeared,  the  government 
had  been  released  and  comparative  quiet  restored  all 
over  the  city.  I  left  the  legation  to  go  to  my  lodgings 
in  the  Rue  de  Londres  at  half  past  twelve,  and  going  by 
the  Champs  Elysees,  the  Boulevards  and  the  Chaussee 
d'Antin,  I  found  all  of  the  streets  deserted  and  the  still- 
ness of  death  everywhere.  What  a  city  !  One  moment 
revolution,  and  the  next  the  most  profound  calm ! 

"  To-day  is  the  great  fete  day  of  All  Saints.  I  went 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  at  half  past  nine  this  morning. 
The  streets  were  comparatively  deserted  and  most  of  the 
shops  closed  ;  the  great  square  in  front  of  the  hotel  was 
pretty  well  filled  with  soldiers.  There  were  a  good 
many  people  about  there,  but  not  the  least  excitement. 
I  went  there  again  this  afternoon  and  found  the  square 
densely  packed  with  soldiers  and  people.  No  man 
seemed  to  know  anything ;  each  one  was  inquiring  of  his 
neighbor.  The  whole  crowd  appeared  listless  and  indif- 


2  i  2         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

ferent.  From  the  Hotel  de  Ville  I  went  to  the  office  of 
the  Rothschilds,  the  bankers  with  whom  I  kept  my  Ger- 
man account.  The  heads  of  the  house,  Alphonse  and 
Gustave,  both  belonged  to  the  National  Guard.  Though 
the  richest  men  in  the  world,  they  did  military  duty  like 
the  commonest  soldiers  in  the  whole  army.  Gustave  said 
that  he  had  been  on  the  ramparts  all  night.  Coming 
back  to  the  legation,  I  found  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
filled  with  troops  who  had  come  there  to  be  reviewed 
by  General  Trochu.  I  hope  there  is  a  prospect  for  an 
armistice,  which  I  trust  may  lead  to  a  peace. 

"  The  suffering  in  Paris  and  the  devastation  outside 
and  inside,  surpass  belief.  The  destruction  of  that  great 
historical  palace  of  St.  Cloud  by  the  French  themselves 
was  a  piece  of  vandalism.  To-day,  for  the  first  time,  I 
saw  that  they  had  cut  down  a  great  portion  of  those  mag- 
nificent trees  in  the  garden  of  the  Tuileries,  which  have 
withstood  the  ravages  and  the  revolutions  of  a  century, 
to  build  barracks  for  soldiers.  How  I  thought  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  little  children  who  have  played 
beneath  their  shades  !  " 

I  gave  afterward  a  more  full  and  detailed  account  of 
this  remarkable  affair  in  a  despatch  to  my  government. 
After  the  government  had  been  seized  in  the  hall  of  their 
sittings,  they  were  guarded  by  military  forces  under  the 
control  of  Flourens,  Blanqui,  Pyat  and  others,  leaders  of 
the  revolutionary  movement.  This  government  in  em- 
bryo of  the  Commune,  which  held  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence  as  prisoners  in  the  first  part  of  the 
night  of  the  3ist  of  October,  seemed  hardly  to  have  been 
fully  advised  of  the  measures  which  were  likely  to  be 
taken  to  overthrow  it ;  and  one  of  the  funniest  things 
in  the  whole  matter  was  that  before  the  members  of 
this  government  of  the  Commune  were  fairly  organized, 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         2 1 3 

they  went  to  work  giving  orders  in  all  directions,  to  the 
end  of  more  fully  possessing  themselves  of  the  entire  ma- 
chinery of  the  government.  One  member  of  the  Commu- 
nist government  sent  a  modest  order  on  the  Minister  of 
Finance  to  transmit  to  him  immediately  fifteen  million 
francs  ;  another  order  was  given  to  seize  the  Prefecture 
of  Police,  and  many  others  were  given  concerning  mili- 
tary operations,  the  forts,  the  gates  of  the  city,  etc.,  etc. 
As  the  night  wore  on,  the  revolutionary  forces  holding 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  became  less  and  less  vigilant,  and  be- 
fore three  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning  they  were  com- 
pletely surprised  and  surrounded  by  the  overpowering 
forces  of  the  loyal  National  Guard,  who  had  quietly  and 
silently  got  into  the  building,  by  various  secret  ways. 
After  a  long  parley  and  after  many  threats  the  Commu- 
nist troops  agreed  to  retire  from  the  building,  leaving  it 
in  possession  of  the  National  Guard,  who  immediately  re- 
leased the  government  of  the  National  Defence  from  im- 
prisonment. Blanqui,  Flourens  and  Co.  suddenly  disap- 
peared at  the  same  moment,  and,  what  was  surprising,  not 
a  single  person  engaged  in  all  that  business  was  arrested. 
The  little  side  show  of  the  government  of  the  Commune 
had  a  precarious  existence  of  about  twelve  hours,  and 
then  vanished  into  thin  air.  The  whole  thing  was  at  once 
astounding  and  ludicrous,  and  the  papers  were  filled  with 
the  incidents  and  history  of  that  remarkable  day,  which 
will  always  cut  a  certain  figure  in  the  record  of  those 
strange  times. 

Entry  in  my  diary,  November  2d,  45th  day  of  the 
siege  : 

"  This  has  been  a  day  of  unusual  quiet.  The  govern- 
ment seems  to  be  again  established,  and  the  more  I  learn 
of  the  strange  affair  on  Monday  the  more  curious  it  ap- 
pears. For  a  few  hours  the  revolutionists  seemed  to 


214 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


have  had  everything  their  own  way.  The  members  of 
the  government  of  the  National  Defence  were  outrage- 
ously abused  when  they  were  under  arrest.  They  were 
grossly  insulted  and  loaded  pistols  placed  at  their  heads 
with  threats  of  instant  death  if  they  dared  to  stir.  Went 
this  evening  to  a  '  reunion'  as  they  call  the  public  meet- 
ings here.  It  was  in  a  large  hall  which  was  densely 
packed  with  men  and  women.  It  was  very  much  like 
one  of  our  public  meetings,  though  the  crowd  was  more 
excitable.  Nearly  every  man  in  the  room  was  smoking, 
and  the  smoke  became  so  thick  that  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  stand  it." 

The  3d  of  November  was  the  day  on  which  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  National  Defence  of  France  had  fixed  for 
asking  a  vote  of  confidence  from  the  people  of  Paris.  I 
make  the  following  entry  in  my  diary  on  that  day,  being 
the  46th  of  the  siege  : 

"This  has  been  election  day.  The  government  of 
France  has  asked  a  vote  of  confidence  of  the  people  of 
Paris,  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  all  one  way,  that  is,  for 
the  government  of  the  National  Defence.  I  hope  it  will 
give  them  some  strength  and  enable  them  to  prevent  a 
repetition  of  the  3ist  of  October.  At  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  rode  out  into  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  entering 
from  the  Avenue  de  I'lmperatrice.  As  one  goes  on  the 
road  to  the  lake,  all  the  trees  on  the  left-hand  side,  em- 
bracing more  than  a  quarter  section,  are  cut  down.  It  is 
the  desolation  of  desolation.  The  day  has  been  bright 
but  rather  cold.  Dined  at  Mr.  Moulton's  and  had  oyster 
soup,  leg  of  mutton,  roast  duck,  etc." 

Now  a  word  in  regard  to  this  election  and  in  regard 
to  voting  generally  in  France.  No  election  could  have 
been  held  under  more  unfavorable  circumstances  than 
that  coming  so  soon  after  the  attempted  communard 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS  OF  THE  COMMUNE.         2 1 5 

revolution  of  the  3ist  of  October.  Mr.  Thomas  Gibson 
Bowles,  a  most  intelligent  and  accomplished  gentleman, 
who  was  special  correspondent  of  the  London  Morning 
Post  during  the  siege  of  Paris,  has  given  a  very  full  and 
correct  account  of  the  manner  in  which  elections  are  held 
in  France.  He  says  that  he  had  been  at  several  voting 
places  on  that  day,  and  that  he  had  found  them  all  per- 
fectly quiet  and  business-like, — no  head-breaking,  no 
cats,  no  rotten  eggs.  There  was  nothing  but  a  continual 
stream  of  patient  people,  each  giving  his  vote  and  there- 
upon going  away.  I  had  afterwards  seen  the  same  thing 
myself,  in  a  very  exciting  election  which  had  taken  place 
in  Paris.  I  well  recollect  going  to  the  polls  on  one  elec- 
tion day  expecting  to  see  a  large  crowd  of  excitable  peo- 
ple hurrahing,  talking,  electioneering  and  gesticulating. 
But  instead,  I  found  scarcely  a  single  person.  The  voter 
would  come  up,  show  his  bulletin  and  be  immediately  ad- 
mitted into  the  polling-place  where  he  would  deposit  his 
ballot,  and  then  quietly  withdraw  and  return  home.  I 
will  quote  here  for  general  information  what  Mr.  Bowles 
says  about  voting  in  France  : 

"  The  voter  has  twenty  days  in  every  year  to  make  or 
amend  his  title,  and  that  done  he  is  put  upon  the  register 
under  a  number,  with  the  particulars  necessary  to  iden- 
tify him ;  and  as  soon  as  a  vote  is  announced,  the  mayors, 
who  have  charge  of  the  registers,  at  once  have  written 
out  for  each  voter  a  carte  d'e'lecteur,  bearing  his  number, 
name,  calling,  date  of  birth  and  address,  which  cards  are 
either  sent  around  to  the  voter's  house  or  are  obtained  by 
him  personally  at  an  office  adjoining  the  polling-place. 
An  elector  presents  himself  for  his  carte  and  gives  his 
name  ;  the  carte  is  at  once  found  among  the  packet,  which 
is  alphabetically  arranged,  and  he  is  asked  his  calling, 
date  of  birth  and  address.  Having  given  these,  he  re- 


2i6         FIRST  MUTTERINGS  OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

ceives  his  carte  and  repairs  to  the  polling-place.  The 
door  thereof  is  guarded  by  two  National  Guard  sentries, 
and  six  or  eight  persons  are  allowed  to  enter  at  a  time. 
The  room  is  generally  a  large  one  and  furnished  with  a 
table  on  which  stands  a  square  oak  box,  locked  with  a 
padlock  and  with  a  slit  in  the  top.  Behind  the  box 
stands  the  President  and  with  him  three  or  four  citizens 
delegated  to  oversee  operations.  On  the  left  of  the 
President  sits  an  officer,  with  a  copy  of  the  register  con- 
taining a  full  account  of  each  voter  and  having  a  blank 
column  on  the  right  ;  and  on  his  right  sits  another  offi- 
cer, with  an  entirely  blank  register.  An  elector  presents 
himself  before  the  box  and  hands  his  carte  d'electeur  to 
the  President,  who  calls  out  the  number.  The  officer  on 
the  left  refers  to  his  copy  of  the  register  and  gives  the 
name  and  address  of  the  elector,  which  the  President 
compares  with  those  of  the  carte  and,  finding  them  tally, 
takes  the  bulletin,  or  voting  paper,  and  drops  it  into  the 
urn.  After  this  he  cuts  or  tears  off  one  corner  of  the 
carte  and  hands  it  to  the  officer  on  his  right,  who  tran- 
scribes it  on  his  list ;  the  officer  on  the  left  meantime 
marking  the  elector's  name  with  a  cross  in  his  blank  col- 
umn, to  show  that  he  has  voted.  The  elector  then  signs 
his  carte  on  the  question  of  sustaining  the  government  of 
the  National  Defence.  There  was  an  immense  majority 
in  favor ;  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  against 
fifty-three  thousand.  When  the  result  was  made  known, 
up  went  the  cry  Vive  la  Republique  !  A  has  la  Commune!" 
One  might  have  supposed  from  this  magnificent  in- 
dorsement of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence 
by  the  city  of  Paris,  that  they  would  have  been  suffi- 
ciently strengthened  to  have  proceeded  against  the  Reds 
who  had  attempted  their  overthrow  ;  but  no  serious  ac- 
tion was  taken  in  the  premises.  One  of  the  most  violent 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS  OF  THE  COMMUNE.         2 1 7 

of  the  insurrectionary  organs,  La  Patrie  en  Danger,  pro- 
claimed in  the  most  violent  manner  that  all  churches 
must  be  closed  to  religious  services  and  used  as  halls  for 
the  meetings  of  clubs  or  for  any  other  revolutionary  pur- 
pose. All  the  ambulances  must  be  purged  of  priests, 
who  must  be  arrested,  armed  and  placed  before  the  pat- 
riots in  the  most  dangerous  places.  Barricades  must  be 
erected.  This  was  the  first  thing  to  think  of.  No  citizen 
must  go  out  unless  armed, — revolvers,  daggers,  bayonets, 
all  are  good.  All  the  Bonapartists  must  be  arrested. 
All  provisions  must  be  put  into  the  common  stock  and 
each  citizen  be  placed  on  strict  rations.  Every  individ- 
ual who  knows  of  a  hiding  place  of  gold,  silver  or  valu- 
ables, must -make  a  declaration  thereof  at  the  Mairie. 
Every  house  must  bear  a  paper  stating  the  name,  age  and 
occupation  of  all  its  inhabitants.  All  women  and  chil- 
dren must  be  placed  in  places  sheltered  from  projectiles. 
Their  cries  and  their  fears'  would  hinder  the  action  and 
paralyze  the  courage  of  some  men.  In  the  midst  of 
such  madness  and  fury,  one  might  well  inquire  if  it  were 
possible  for  any  good  to  come  out  of  Paris. 

Paris,  November  7th,  5Oth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Haven't  been  able  to  make  an  entry  in  my  diary  since 
last  Thursday.  Last  Friday  morning  a  friend  and  my- 
self went  to  take  breakfast  with  Admiral  Langle,  and 
stopped  at  Passy  after  breakfast  and  visited  the  defences 
for  about  two  miles.  They  have  great  strength.  Indeed 
these  defences  all  around  the  city  present  a  wonderful 
spectacle.  I  could  conceive  of  nothing  more  complete  in 
their  way.  By  the  vote  of  Thursday  the  government  re- 
ceived a  strong  indorsement.  Friday  and  Saturday  every 
body  believed  in  an  armistice,  but  yesterday  morning  all 
hopes  were  blasted  by  the  announcement  in  the  Journal 
Officiel  that  it  was  not  agreed  to.  There  is  a  great  dis- 


218         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

appointment,  and  nobody  can  tell  what  will  happen.  A 
few  more  Americans  will  leave  to-morrow.  I  have  re- 
ceived a  New  York  Tribune  dated  October  I5th  ;  no 
despatches  from  Washington  and  not  a  letter  from  the 
United  States." 

Tuesday  evening,  November  8th,  5ist  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  We  are  without  any  incident  whatever  to-day,  and 
Paris  is  indeed  in  a  stupor.  A  circular  from  Jules  Favre 
says  that  there  is  no  possible  chance  of  an  armistice  ;  and 
the  French  now  ask,  what  can  be  done  ?  The  day  has 
been  chilly  and  forbidding." 

Wednesday  evening,  November  gth,  52d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"Absolutely  nothing  of  the  least  interest  to-day.  It 
has  been  one  of  the  most  gloomy  days  of  the  siege ; 
cloudy  and  sour,  and  every  one  has  been  greatly  de- 
pressed. Two  Protestant  clergymen  called  to-night  to 
see  me  in  the  interests  of  peace.  They  want  me  to  for- 
ward a  letter  to  Bismarck,  appealing  to  the  King  of 
Prussia  from  a  religious  point  of  view.  A  good  deal  of 
talk  about  a  sortie.  That  is  always  to  be  resorted  to 
when  matters  get  very  low  down.  '  Well,  now,  we  must 
make  a  big  sortie  of  one  hundred  thousand  men,  cut 
through  the  Prussian  lines  and  raise  the  siege.'  Such  is 
the  wild  talk,  but  no  sortie  is  ever  made." 

Thursday  evening,  November  loth,  53d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Went  to  the  legation  in  the  rain  this  morning,  and 
there  remained  all  day  without  leaving  it.  It  has  been 
raining,  snowing  and  sleeting  all  day  long,  and  dark  and 
dreary.  I  had  my  lamp  lighted  before  four  o'clock.  As 
wretched  as  the  weather  was,  a  good  many  people  came 
to  see  me.  Some  people  from  the  far-off  Danubian 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         219 

Provinces  came  to  ask  my  protection,  and  my  good  of- 
fices to  get  them  out  of  Paris.  Who  next  ?  The  English 
have  had  great  trouble  in  getting  out,  and  are  perfectly 
raving  to  think  that  I  slipped  out  all  the  Americans  so 
nicely,  while  they  are  left  here.  They  are  all  coming  to 
see  me  and  ask  if  I  cannot  do  something  for  them." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  M.  Jules  Favre  had  be- 
sought my  good  offices  to  intercede  with  Count  Bismarck 
to  obtain  some  information  of  M.  de  Raynal,  a  prominent 
official,  who  had  been  arrested  by  the  Prussian  authori- 
ties. My  demarches  did  not  result  in  anything  very  satis- 
factory, for  Bismarck  immediately  wrote  to  me  that  M. 
de  Raynal  had  been  arrested  by  the  military  authorities, 
who  had  seized  at  his  house  certain  papers  and  notes 
written  in  his  own  hand  which  showed  that  he  had  kept 
up  a  correspondence  for  the  purpose  of  sending  infor- 
mation to  the  enemy,  and  that  he  had  been  sent  into 
Germany,  where  he  would  be  tried  by  a  council  of  war. 
The  Count  also  took  this  occasion  to  inform  me  that  sev- 
eral balloons  which  had  been  sent  out  from  Paris  had 
fallen  into  German  hands,  and  that  the  persons  sending 
them  would  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  war.  He  desired 
that  I  should  bring  this  fact  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
French  government,  and  added  that  all  persons  who  took 
this  means  of  crossing  German  lines  without  authority, 
or  holding  correspondence  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Ger- 
man troops,  would  expose  themselves  to  be  tried  by  the 
laws  of  war.  On  the  I2th  of  November,  Count  Bismarck 
wrote  me  further  in  respect  to  letters  which  had  been 
sent  out  by  balloon  and  had  been  captured.  He  said 
that  in  consequence  of  such  developments,  the  military 
authorities  had  determined  that  they  would  grant  no 
more  permissions  to  leave  Paris,  and  added  that  under 
these  circumstances  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  in  the 


220         FIRST  MUTTER  INGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

future  to  grant  any  more  passports  to  anybody.  In  re- 
ply to  this  letter  of  Count  Bismarck,  I  stated  on  Novem- 
ber 1 4th,  that  I  regretted  to  learn  that  any  persons  bear- 
ing my  certificate  had  violated  the  confidence  reposed  in 
them  and  had  been  carrying  letters  through  their  military 
lines.  I  told  him  that  I  not  only  took  the  precaution  he 
had  suggested,  of  advising  the  bearers  of  my  certificate 
of  what  was  required  of  them,  but  I  expected  that  each 
person  would  sign  a  parole,  the  form  of  which  I  had  sent 
him  ;  that  I  sincerely  hoped  that  it  would  not  be  found 
that  any  one  of  my  countrymen  was  in  the  category  of 
persons  carrying  information  through  their  lines,  which  he 
had  referred  to.  But  if  they  violated  their  parole,  which 
they  had  given  me,  they  must  take  the  consequences.  I 
further  said  to  him  in  this  letter  that  I  could  not  fully 
answer  an  inquiry  he  had  hitherto  made  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  Germans  in  Paris  at  that  time,  but  I  told  him 
I  thought  I  had  got  them  all  out ;  that  numbers  were 
coming  every  day  to  my  legation  seeking  pecuniary  aid 
and  who  had  been  reduced  to  the  greatest  misery  ;  that  a 
clergyman  had  brought  me  that  day  a  list  of  thirty-seven 
of  those  people,  utterly  without  the  means  of  supporting 
themselves,  and  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  means  which 
his  government  had  so  generously  placed  at  my  disposal, 
their  suffering  would  be  incredible. 

Notwithstanding  the  peremptory  declaration  which  had 
been  made  by  Count  Bismarck  in  his  letter  of  the  I2th, 
that  no  more  permissions  would  be  granted  to  leave 
Paris,  I  asked  him  on  the  Hth  of  November  for  an  au- 
thorization to  me  to  give  passports  to  twenty-four  of  my 
countrymen.  On  the  igth  he  wrote  me  that  the  military 
authorities  had  consented  to  my  request  (exceptionally, 
in  consideration  of  the  circumstance  that  they  had  applied 
to  me  previously),  and  that  my  countrymen  could  pass 


FIRST  MUTTE RINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         221 

out  by  the  Creteil  route,  on  being  furnished  with  pass- 
ports delivered  by  myself. 

Entry  in  my  diary,  Friday  evening,  November  nth, 
54th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Stopped  raining  last  night.  To-day  has  been  com- 
paratively pleasant.  Nothing  going  on.  Called  to  see 
Baron  Rothschild  and  Louis  Blanc  this  afternoon.  There 
is  great  depression.  The  papers  begin  to  talk  very 
plainly  about  an  armistice." 

Saturday  evening,  November  i2th,  55th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  I  might  as  well  stop  my  diary,  for  there  is  absolutely 
nothing  to  put  down.  There  are  now  no  military,  nor  even 
political  movements,  the  streets  are  becoming  more  and 
more  vacant  and  the  people  more  and  more  sober,  but 
the  newspapers  continue  to  lie  to  suit  their  purposes. 
Last  night  and  this  morning  they  all  said  that  an  armis- 
tice was  certain,  and  some  of  them  gave  the  terms  of  it. 
I  called  at  five  this  afternoon  to  see  M.  Jules  Favre,  who 
told  me  that  there  was  not  one  word  of  truth  in  all  that 
the  papers  had  said  ;  that  the  government  had  not  heard 
one  word  from  the  outside  since  M.  Thiers  had  left, 
carrying  with  him  the  rejection  of  the  terms  which  were 
proposed  by  the  Prussians.  The  situation  here  is  bad 
for  the  French.  They  cannot  get  an  armistice,  and  they 
cannot  make  peace.  The  Prussians  cannot  get  into  Paris 
and  the  French  cannot  get  out  of  it.  During  the  last 
few  days  the  suffering  has  greatly  increased.  The 
crowds  at  the  offices  of  the  various  mayors  (Paris  has 
eighteen)  are  now  very  large,  and  all  are  without  food." 

Sunday  evening,  November  i3th,  56th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  The  day  has  been  quite  pleasant,  and  the  Paris  world 
pretty  extensively  out  of  doors ;  the  Boulevards  and  the 


222         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

Champs  Elysees  quite  gay  for  a  besieged  town.  Went 
to  the  American  ambulance  at  three  P.M.,  and  met  there 
General  Ducrot,  Dr.  Ricord  and  several  other  French 
people  of  distinction.  They  all  expressed  the  greatest 
satisfaction  with  the  ambulance,  and  gave  it  the  preference 
over  all  the  ambulances  of  Paris.  Talk,  talk,  talk,  all  the 
while  about 'the  situation,  prospects  of  peace,  armistice, 
etc.  As  near  as  I  can  learn,  the  government  is  all  di- 
vided. Not  one  thing  has  got  into  the  city  since  I  re- 
ceived my  despatch  bag  a  week  ago  yesterday." 

November  Hth,  57th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  My  bag  will  be  made  up  to-night.  I  have  nothing 
important  to  send  out  by  it.  Rumors  as  usual  of  a  sor- 
tie. I  shall  believe  in  a  sortie  when  I  see  it.  There  is 
a  good  deal  of  firing  from  the  forts,  and  that  is  all  there 
is  to  report." 

Tuesday  night,  November  i5th,  58th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  After  making  my  memorandum  yesterday,  great  ex- 
citement was  produced  by  the  appearance  of  a  soldier  on 
horseback  at  the  door  of  the  building  in  which  we  have 
the  legation.  Two  little  despatch  bags  hung  over  his 
saddle,  like  the  grist  in  the  bag  which  I  used  to  take  to 
mill  in  my  boyhood  days.  There  was  great  excitement 
all  through  the  legation.  One  of  the  bags  was  filled 
with  newspapers,  but  all  of  an  old  date  ;  the  other  had 
letters  and  despatches  and  newspapers  of  a  later  date,  but 
nothing  later  than  November  3d.  The  latest  paper  and 
the  latest  despatch  from  the  United  States  bore  date  of 
October  2ist.  My  despatches  from  the  State  Depart- 
ment are  all  very  satisfactory  and  my  remaining  in  Paris 
seems  to  be  approved.  If  I  am  not  ordered  to  leave,  I 
shall  remain  here,  at  least  for  the  present.  I  had  not 
time  to  read  the  papers  last  night.  Being  detained  until 
half  past  seven  this  morning  at  the  legation  in  getting  off 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


223 


my  bag,  I  did  not  go  there  to-day,  but  remained  away  in 
order  to  read  my  newspapers,  letters  and  despatches.  I 
ordered  a  fire  built  in  my  house,  at  No.  75,  now  Avenue 
Uhrich,  and  thither  I  went  with  my  budget  at  ten  o'clock 
this  morning  and  remained  until  three  P.M.,  entirely  un- 
disturbed, nobody  knowing  where  I  was.  It  having  been 
noised  about  that  I  had  received  a  despatch  bag  and  late 
papers,  the  people  began 
flocking  to  the  legation 
early  this  morning. 
There  was  really  not 
much  in  the  papers  after 
all  the  waiting.  The 
world  seems  to  have 
moved  very  quietly  along 
since  we  have  been  in 
jail  here." 

Wednesday  evening, 
November  i6th,  59th 
day  of  the  siege. 

"  Legation  full  of  peo- 
ple, reading  all  the  old 


English  and  American 
newspapers  which  I 
have  left  upon  the  table 
in  the  Secretary's  room.  As  they  contain  no  war  news 
that  could  be  made  use  of,  I  was  glad  in  this  way  to 
gratify  my  countrymen,  who  for  so  long  a  time  had 
nothing  of  our  home  news.  There  was  a  great  deal  of 
talk  about  the  fall  of  Metz  and  what  was  called  the 
"treason  of  Bazaine."  I  asked  M.  Jules  Favre  what  he 
thought  of  it.  He  said  he  would  not  pass  a  judgment  on 
so  grave  a  matter,  without  further  evidence,  but  the  fact 
that  Bazaine  had  not  made  a  single  communication  to 


Marshal    Bazaine. 


224 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


the  government  since  the  4th  of  September,  and  his 
going  to  see  the  Emperor  had  a  bad  look. 

"  It  is  evident  that  the  siege  begins  to  pinch.  Fresh 
meat  is  getting  almost  out  of  the  question  ;  that  is,  beef, 
mutton,  veal  or  pork.  Horse  meat  and  mule  meat  are 
very  generally  eaten  now.  They  have  begun  on  dogs, 
cats  and  rats,  and  butcher  shops  have  been  regularly 
opened  for  the  last  mentioned.  The  gas  is  also  giving 
out,  and  to-day  the  order  appears  that  only  one  lamp  in 
six  is  hereafter  to  be  lighted  at  night.  Only  to  think, 
Paris  in  darkness  ;  but  then,  no  longer  Paris  except  in 
name.  No  more  foreigners.  The  government  last  night 
decided  that  in  view  of  the  fact  that  such  large  numbers 
had  applied  to  go  when  they  could  go  and  did  not,  they 
cannot  now  stop  their  military  operations  to  permit  them 
to  go  out.  The  Prussians  have  also  decided  to  let  none 
hereafter  go  through  their  lines  except  those  who  have 
already  had  permission.  Count  Bismarck  writes  that 
some  of  those  who  have  gone  out  have  violated  their  pa- 
roles. A  few  Americans  would  like  to  go  now,  but  have 
to  stay.  I  was  very  fortunate  in  getting  the  great  body 
of  them  out  before  the  gates  were  finally  closed." 

November  lyth,  6oth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Look  at  that.  Sixty  days  closely  besieged  in  a  city 
of  nearly  two  millions  of  people  ;  but  after  all  I  am  fa- 
vored, for  I  am  the  only  man  in  all  this  vast  population 
who  is  permitted  to  receive  anything  from  the  outside. 
Nothing  to  record  to-day.  Was  not  out  of  the  legation 
until  half  past  seven  this  evening,  except  to  go  down  to 
see  the  bankers,  the  Rothschilds,  both  very  intelligent 
and  agreeable  men,  talking  English  perfectly.  They  are 
very  much  discouraged  in  regard  to  matters." 

Friday  evening,  November  i8th,  6ist  day  of  the  siege. 

"The  same  old  story,  'nothing  at  all.'     Two  months 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS  OF  THE  COMMUNE.         225 


*r  -~  - 


- 


Fac-simile  of  Note  from   Marshal   Bazaine.* 

to-day  since  the  siege  commenced,  and  I  am  more  dis- 
appointed that  it  has  lasted  so  long  as  it  now  has,  than 
I  shall  be  if  it  lasts  into  the  first  days  of  January. 

*  In  1880  Marshal  Bazaine  sent  from  Madrid  a  photograph  as  a  souvenir  "recall- 
ing our  friendly  relations  in  Paris."  On  the  back  of  the  picture,  from  which  the 
portrait  in  the  text  is  copied,  he  wrote,  besides  the  inscription  and  autograph,  the 
words  reproduced  in  fac-simile,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation  :  "  Ten  years 
ago  !  —  It  was  on  this  date,  August  13,  1870,  that  the  chief  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Rhine  was  imposed  upon  me,  in  spite  of  my  refusal  as  being  the  junior  among  the 
marshals.  But  I  obeyed,  and  so  became  responsible  for  all  the  failures  of  that  fatal 
war  —  in  a  word  the  scapegoat  (Buccus)  of  the  ancients.  Is  this  just  ?  " 

15 


226         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE, 

Should  there  be  some  successes  in  the  provinces,  like  that 
reported  at  Orleans  on  the  9th  instant,  and  should  a  suc- 
cessful sortie  be  made,  these  Parisian  people  will  hold  out 
indefinitely.  To  hear  them  talk  it  would  not  seem  that 
they  feared  even  an  assault  or  a  bombardment. 

"  This  is  the  eighty-sixth  birthday  of  my  father.  All 
hail  to  the  glorious,  great-hearted,  great-headed,  noble 
old  man,  in  truth  '  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all.'  How 
intelligent,  how  kind,  how  genial,  how  hospitable,  how 
true  ;  yet  when  in  the  course  of  nature  a  kind  Providence 
shall  call  him  hence,  I  would  have  the  hand  of  filial  affec- 
tion only  trace  this  simple  inscription  on  his  monument : 
'  He  was  a  kind  father  and  an  honest  man.'  It  cannot  be 
long  before  the  last  of  the  early  settlers  of  Livermore  will 
have  passed  away  ;  and  what  a  class  of  men  they  were  ! 
Distinguished  for  intelligence,  probity,  honor,  thrift, — 
illustrating  by  their  lives  all  those  great  virtues,  which 
belong  to  the  best  type  of  New  England  character.  But 
they  have  nearly  all  gone.  Here  in  this  far-off  besieged 
city,  in  these  long,  dismal  days,  I  think  of  them  all,  and 
would  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  their  memory." 

Saturday  evening,  November  igth,  62d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  I  came  to  my  lodgings  to-night  quite  under  the 
weather.  Had  a  busy  day  at  the  legation.  The  weather 
has  been  wretched,  and  I  can  hear  of  nothing  taking 
place  of  any  importance.  It  was  said  there  was  to  be  a 
fight,  and  the  ambulances  were  ordered  out,  only  to  be 
ordered  back  again.  It  seems  there  is  to  be  a  great 
battle  to-morrow,  and  I  am  invited  to  go  out  with  the 
American  ambulance,  and  I  may  go.  if  I  feel  well 
enough." 

I  set  out  on  the  i8th  to  make  a  report  to  my  gov- 
ernment as  to  what  I  had  done  as  connected  with  the 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


227 


subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation,  Saxony, 
Hesse,  and  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  then  in  France,  with 
whose  protection  I  had  been  charged  during  the  ex- 
isting war  between  France  and  Prussia.  I  shall  now 
briefly  review  what  I  did  in  carrying  out  that  duty. 
When  I  took  upon  myself  the  protection  of  the  German 
subjects  in  France,  I  had  but  a  faint  idea  of  what  the 
undertaking  was  going  to  involve,  for  I  had  not  supposed 
it  possible  that  I  should  be  charged  with  the  care  and 
with  the  superintendence  of  more  than  thirty  thousand 
people  expelled  from  their  homes  on  so  short  a  notice. 
From  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  so  soon 
as  it  became  known  that  the  Germans  had  been  placed 
under  my  protection,  it  could  be  well  imagined,  consider- 
ing so  large  a  German  population,  what  would  take  place. 
The  legation  began  to  be  crowded  from  day  to  day  by 
persons  desiring  protection,  advice,  information  and  as- 
sistance. Many  were  thrown  into  prison  charged  with 
being  "  Prussian  spies,"  many  were  under  arrest  as  dan- 
gerous persons,  and  the  lives  and  property  of  others  were 
threatened  in  their  neighborhoods.  My  good  offices  were 
sought  for,  and  cheerfully  rendered,  in  all  such  cases,  and 
I  believe  I  never  failed  to  accomplish  all  I  undertook  in 
such  emergencies.  The  first  extraordinary  order  of  the 
French  government,  prohibiting  all  such  Germans  from 
leaving  France  who  might  by  any  possibility  owe  military 
service,  and  about  which  I  had  so  long  a  correspondence 
with  the  Duke  de  Gramont,  created  great  alarm  among 
a  large  number  of  them,  who  were  extremely  anxious  to 
get  away.  The  practical  operation  of  that  order  pre- 
vented any  German  from  leaving  French  territory  with- 
out special  authority  to  that  end  first  had  and  obtained 
from  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  all  applications 
for  such  authority  had  to  be  made  through  me.  Subse- 


228         FIRST  MUTTERING S   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

quently  all  that  was  changed,  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
Germans  decreed  en  masse,  and  it  was  required  that  I 
should  vise  the  passports  or  give  a  laissez-passer  to  every 
German  in  France.  I  estimated  that  the  number  of  Ger- 
mans placed  under  my  protection,  and  who  were  expelled 
from  France,  amounted  to  thirty  thousand.  I  made  that 
estimate  from  the  number  of  vises  and  passports  which  I 
gave  out,  and  that  number,  as  recorded  in  the  legation, 
amounted  to  eight  thousand  nine  hundred.  In  the  rush 
and  hurry  of  business,  there  was  no  record  made  in  many 
cases.  It  was  entirely  safe  to  say  that  the  whole  num- 
ber of  vises  and  passports  going  through  the  legation 
amounted  to  not  less  than  nine  thousand ;  the  larger 
number  of  these  passports  included  husband,  wife  and 
children,  and  it  was  a  moderate  estimate  to  say  that  there 
was  an  average  of  three  and  one-third  persons  to  each 
passport,  which  would  make  thirty  thousand  souls,  accord- 
ing to  such  calculation.  I  issued  cards  which,  by  an  ar- 
rangement that  I  had  made  with  the  railroad  company, 
entitled  the  holder  to  a  railroad  ticket  from  Paris,  through 
Belgium,  to  the  German  frontier,  for  nine  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty-two  persons,  and  gave  pecuniary  as- 
sistance to  a  smaller  number.  That  involved  an  exami- 
nation of  each  person  as  to  his  or  her  want  of  the  neces- 
sary means  to  get  out  of  the  country  ;  for  my  instruc- 
tions were  not  to  make  advances  to  people  who  had  the 
means  of  paying  their  own  expenses.  I  was  under  the 
necessity  of  sending  two  or  three  persons  from  the  lega- 
tion to  the  railroad  depot  every  night,  in  order  to  see  that 
the  holders  of  the  cards  received  their  railroad  tickets  and 
were  properly  sent  off. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  August  when  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Germans  from  France  began  to  be  rigidly  en- 
forced, and  when  I  received  the  credit  of  fifty  thousand 


FIRST  MUTTERING S  OF  THE  COMMUNE.         229 

thalers  from  the  Prussian  government  to  assist  them. 
From  that  time  to  the  middle  of  September,  when  the 
Northern  Railroad  was  cut,  we  were  literally  overwhelmed 
by  these  poor  people,  seeking  vises  or  passports,  and  the 
means  of  getting  away.  For  days,  and  I  may  even  say 
for  weeks,  the  street  was  completely  blocked  by  them, 
awaiting  their  turns  to  be  attended  to.  On  one  day, 
more  than  five  hundred  had  gathered  in  front  of  the  lega- 
tion before  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  and  on  some 
days  there  were  not  less  than  twenty-five  hundred  to  three 
thousand  persons  in  waiting.  It  took  a  police  force  of 
six  men  to  keep  the  crowd  back  and  keep  the  door  open, 
so  that  the  people  could  enter  in  their  turn.  With  such 
an  amount  of  work  so  suddenly  thrown  upon  the  lega- 
tion, I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  get  the  necessary 
help  to  assist  me,  though  I  was  authorized  by  the  State 
Department  to  employ  what  force  I  should  deem  neces- 
sary. I  was  fortunate  in  being  able  to  procure  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Saxon  and  Darmstadt  lega- 
tions, and  of  the  clerk  of  the  Prussian  Consul-General  in 
Paris,  all  of  whom  proved  invaluable  from  their  knowl- 
edge of  both  the  French  and  German  languages.  I  had 
also  the  benefit  of  the  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Nicholas 
Fish,  the  son  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  Hon. 
George  Eustis,  whom  I  have  heretofore  mentioned,  and 
by  several  other  friends,  who  were  kind  enough  to  lend 
me  a  helping  hand.  Some  days  there  were  no  less  than 
eleven  persons  engaged  at  the  legation,  but  with  all  the 
force  we  had,  it  was  impossible  to  keep  up  with  the  de- 
mands upon  us.  In  view  of  this  extra  work  and  the 
increased  price  of  living,  I  recommended  to  the  State 
Department  that,  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  certain 
extra  allowances  should  be  paid  to  my  secretaries  and 
other  persons  connected  with  the  legation.  All  such 


230         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

amounts  were  cheerfully  allowed  by  the  State  Depart- 
ment, with  the  approbation  of  Congress. 

There  were  at  this  time  a  large  number  of  Germans  in 
Paris  who  were  under  my  protection.  Considering  the 
large  German  population  in  the  city  prior  to  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war,  it  was  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  a  good 
many  were  found  still  in  the  city,  when  all  communication 
was  cut  off.  When  it  became  evident  that  the  city  was 
to  be  besieged,  I  redoubled  my  exertions  to  get  these 
unfortunate  people  away.  Deprived  of  all  work,  their 
little  resources  exhausted,  with  the  intense  hostility  of 
the  French  people  towards  them — bad  as  their  condition 
was,  it  was  to  become  infinitely  worse  in  case  of  a  siege. 
Many  were  imprisoned  for  vagabondage  and  many  were 
detained  charged  with  being  spies,  dangerous  persons, 
etc. 

As  I  have  stated,  upon  my  application  to  Gambetta  he 
concerted  with  the  Count  de  Keratry,  the  Prefect  of  Po- 
lice, for  their  discharge  en  masse  and  for  sending  them, 
at  the  expense  of  the  French  government  to  the  Belgian 
frontier.  But  after  all,  quite  a  number  still  remained. 
Many  were  too  old  and  infirm  to  leave.  Some  were  sick, 
some  were  children  left  behind,  who  had  been  put  out  to 
service  ;  but  perhaps  the  largest  number  were,  as  I  have 
said,  female  domestics,  most  of  whom  had  been  per- 
suaded by  their  employers  to  remain,  under  pledges  of 
protection.  Not  a  day  passed  that  there  was  not  some 
new  application  for  assistance. 

In  view  of  the  duties  which  had  been  imposed  upon 
me,  in  virtue  of  the  functions  with  which  I  had  been 
charged,  in  respect  to  the  nationaux  of  the  countries  I 
have  named,  it  would  have  been  almost  too  much  to  ex- 
pect that  I  could  discharge  them  in  a  manner  entirely 
satisfactory  to  both  the  belligerent  powers  and  to  my  own 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


231 


government.  My  position  was  sometimes  very  embar- 
rassing. None  of  the  writers  on  public  law,  so  far  as  I 
had  been  able  to  find,  had  laid  down  any  rule  to  be  ob- 
served, or  referred  in  any  manner  to  what  was  proper  to 
be  done  by  the  representative  of  a  belligerent  power,  re- 
maining in  the  country  of  the  enemy,  in  a  state  of  war. 
I  had,  therefore,  to  grope  almost  entirely  in  the  dark.  I 
did  not,  however,  shrink  from  my  duty  or  labor.  During 
two  months  I  had  occupied  from  twelve  to  eighteen  hours 
daily  in  my  work.  When  the  pressure  for  the  departure 
of  the  Germans  was  the  greatest,  I  went  myself  to  the 
railroad  depot  at  night,  after  working  all  day  at  my  lega- 
tion, and  remained  till  midnight  to  superintend  their  de- 
parture and  to  seek  out  and  provide  for  case's  of  extreme 
destitution,  that  had  not  been  made  known.  It  was  a 
satisfaction  for  me  to  know  that,  with  the  means  which 
had  been  so  generously  placed  at  my  disposal  by  the 
Prussian  government,  I  had  been  able  to  relieve  a  vast 
amount  of  suffering  and  misery.  It  was  pleasant  for  me 
to  know  that  no  complaint  of  any  German  ever  reached 
the  legation  of  a  failure  on  my  part  to  do  everything  that 
could  properly  be  done  by  me  in  respect  to  protection, 
advice  or  assistance.  On  the  other  hand,  all  classes  sig- 
nified to  me  their  thankfulness  and  gratitude  for  what  I 
had  been  able  to  do  for  them. 

And  now  I  resume  my  diary. 

Paris,  Sunday  afternoon,  November  2Oth,  63d  day  of 
the  siege. 

"  I  did  not  go  out  of  my  room  to-day.  I  have  had  a 
very  quiet  time  ;  but  one  person  has  been  to  see  me  so 
far,  and  he  had  heard  nothing  of  the  proposed  battle  that 
was  to  be  fought  to-day  under  the  walls  of  Paris.  One  of 
the  features  of  the  siege  is  the  thousand  rumors  and  re- 
ports that  are  constantly  flying  about.  The  most  absurd 


232         FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

and  ridiculous  canards  are  circulated  every  hour  in  the 
day.  These  French  people  are  in  a  position  to  believe 
anything,  even  that  the  moon  is  made  of  green  cheese. 
Some  of  the  editors  are  the  most  deliberate  and  inventive 
liars  of  modern  times.  Macaulay  said  that  Sir  Thomas 
Wharton  was  the  biggest  liar  of  his  time,  but  he  was 
nowhere  as  compared  with  these  editors.  One  of  the 
papers  the  other  day  said  it  had  received  a  number  of 
the  London  Standard  of  November  nth,  and  went  on  to 
give  various  extracts  and  news  taken  from  it.  Everybody 
wondered  how  so  late  a  paper  could  get  into  Paris,  and 
when  the  matter  was  investigated,  it  was  shown  that  no 
such  paper  had  ever  been  received  and  that  the  whole 
thing  was  a  deliberate  and  wilful  fabrication.  The  news 
that  has  come  by  '  pigeon-telegraph '  in  regard  to  the 
French  success  at  Orleans  has  had  a  great  effect.  Small 
favors  thankfully  received,  and  larger  ones  in  propor- 
tion. 

"  For  three  days  it  has  been  war,  war,  but  now  when 
these  long  dreary  days  and  weeks  are  running  out,  noth- 
ing is  accomplished,  except  every  few  days  a  letter  or  a 
high-sounding  proclamation  of  Trochu.  It  has  been  a 
dead  calm  since  the  3ist  of  October, — not  excitement 
enough  to  stir  the  blood  of  a  cat.  These  people,  gay, 
enthusiastic  and  light-hearted,  as  they  are,  would  endure 
wonders,  could  you  convince  them  that  anything  was  to 
be  gained.  They  are  getting  down  to  what  we  called  in 
the  Galena  lead  mines  '  hard  pan.'  Fresh  meat  cannot 
last  much  longer,  including  horse  and  mule.  The  vege- 
tables really  seem  to  be  holding  out  very  well,  but  the 
prices  are  so  high  that  the  poor  can  buy  but  very  little. 
Butter  is  selling  for  $4.00  a  pound,  turkeys  $16  a  piece, 
chickens  $6.00  a  piece,  rabbits  $4.00  each,  eggs  $1.50  a 
dozen,  and  so  on.  The  price  of  bread,  however,  fixed  by 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


233 


the  city,  is  about  as  cheap  as  usual.  Wine  is  also  quite 
cheap.  Bread  and  wine  will  soon  be  about  all  the  poorer 
classes  will  have  to  eat  and  drink.  What  misery  !  what 
suffering !  what  desolation  ! 

"  Every  day  new  Germans  come  to  the  legation  for  as- 
sistance and,  thank  fortune,  I  have  funds  to  assist  them. 
One  poor  woman  who  was  left  here  with  five  children, 
gave  birth  to  another  last  week.  I  sent  her  a  present 
of  fifty  francs  yesterday.  I  will  go  around  to  the  Moul- 
tons  this  evening, — for  that  hospitable  mansion  seems  to 
be  a  sort  of  rendezvous  every  Sunday  evening  for  the 
many  members  of  the  American  colony.  '  What  is  the 
news  ?  '  '  What  do  you  think  ?'  And  that  is  all." 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  November  when  I  con- 
sidered that  one  of  the  highest  possible  compliments 
which  had  been  paid  to  our  government  was  paid  by  a 
certain  number  of  Roumanians  who  had  found  themselves 
in  Paris  during  the  siege.  They  were  without  any  diplo- 
matic protection  whatever,  and  their  little  means  had 
become  entirely  exhausted.  They  were  mostly  students 
and  young  men  who  had  come  to  Paris  to  spend  some 
little  time,  and  they  had  no  one  to  whom  they  could  ap- 
ply for  assistance,  and  it  was  then  that  they  called  upon 
me  in  a  body  to  state  to  me  their  situation  and  to  ask  me 
if  it  were  in  my  power  to  aid  them  in  any  way.  What 
they  wanted  in  particular  was  some  intervention  which 
would  enable  them  to  leave  Paris.  But  this  request  came 
so  late  that  I  was  unable  to  comply  with  it,  as  the  Ger- 
man authorities  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
would  no  longer  give  permission  to  any  one  to  cross 
their  lines.  Situated  as  I  then  was,  all  that  I  could  do 
was  to  promise  them  my  good  offices  with  Jules  Favre  to 
obtain  for  them  some  relief.  Stating  their  case  to  M. 
Favre,  with  great  promptness  and  liberality  he  gave  cer- 


234 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 


tain  directions  which  secured  to  them  their  subsistence 
during  the  time  that  the  city  should  be  besieged.  The 
young  men  seemed  very  much  gratified  at  their  interview, 
and  at  the  prospect  there  was  that  they  would  be  saved 
from  starvation.  They  departed  giving  me  their  best 
thanks  for  my  intervention  in  their  behalf,  and  I  presume 
they  got  through  the  siege  all  right  and  unharmed,  for  I 
never  heard  anything  from  them  afterwards. 

Entry  in  my  diary,  Tuesday  night,  November  22d,  for 
the  64th  and  65th  days  of  the  siege. 

"  As  the  despatch  bag  came  yesterday  morning,  I  was 
engaged  all  day  and  until  midnight  last  night  in  look- 
ing over  its  contents,  and  in  getting  my  letters  and 
despatches  ready  to  send  out  early  this  morning.  We 
have  a  parlementaire  now  for  every  Tuesday  morning, 
and  this  Monday  is  a  very  busy  day  in  getting  ready. 
For  two  Mondays  in  succession  my  bag  from  London  has 
arrived,  and  the  result  is  that  a  great  deal  has  to  be 
crowded  into  one  day.  I  have  several  despatches  from 
the  Secretary  of  State  which  were  delayed  in  reaching 
me  ;  and  they  are  each  and  all  of  them  in  cordial  appro- 
val of  my  official  acts.  I  received  New  York  papers 
up  to  the  2Qth  ult.,  and  London  papers  only  to  the  loth 
instant.  As  I  am  the  only  man  who  gets  anything  from 
the  outside  world,  it  does  not  take  long  for  the  news  of 
the  arrival  of  a  bag  to  get  around.  Soon  the  legation  is 
filled  with  editors  and  others  seeking  the  news.  It  is 
well  that  there  is  something  coming  from  the  outside 
world,  for  there  is  nothing  going  on  inside  of  Paris.  The 
streets  are  more  and  more  deserted,  yet  the  omnibuses 
thunder  along  as  usual,  and  apparently  there  are  as  many 
cabs  as  ever.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  a  ripple  against 
the  government  just  now.  Nothing  of  interest  to-day. 
Raining  outside  ;  a  cold,  cheerless,  dreary  day,  but  a 


FIRST  MUTTERING S   OF  THE  COMMUNE.         235 

warm  wood  fire  inside,  before  which  I  read  all  the 
papers." 

Wednesday  evening,  November  23d,  66th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Raining  until  noon.  At  one,  it  had  cleared  up  and  I 
went  to  the  photographer,  who  complained  of  my  looking 
'  too  sober.'  Have  been  laying  in  some  canned  green 
corn,  Lima  beans,  canned  oysters,  etc.  All  this  sort  of 
things  is  being  'gobbled  up.'  Nobody  can  tell  how  long 
we  are  in  for  it,  and  to  what  extremes  we  may  be  pushed. 
I  first  put  the  siege  at  sixty  days,  and  here  we  are  at 
sixty-six  days  and  no  light  ahead.  The  French  seem  to 
be  getting  more  and  more  hopeful  every  day.  Gambetta 
sends  his  proclamations  pinned  to  a  pigeon's  tail,  and  tells 
of  a  great  many  things  in  the  provinces,  and  then  there  is 
a  prodigious  excitement  all  over  the  city.  The  new  quo- 
tations for  to-day  are  as  follows  :  For  cats ; '  a  common 
cat,  eight  francs,  a  Thomas  cat,  ten  francs ;  for  rats,  a 
common  rat,  two  francs,  long-tailed  rat,  two  francs  and  a 
half ;  for  dogs,  a  cur  of  low  degree,  two  francs  a  pound  ; 
for  a  fat  dog,  two  and  a  half  francs,  and  for  a  '  -  -  fat 
dog,'  three  francs  per  pound." 

Thursday  night,  November  24th,  67th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  And  Thanksgiving  day  at  that.  Visions  of  beef- 
steak, broiled  chickens,  hot  rolls  and  waffles  for  break- 
fast ;  roast  beef  rare,  turkey  and  cranberry  sauce,  roast 
goose  and  apple  sauce,  plum  pudding,  mince  pie,  pump- 
kin pie  and  Livermore  cheese  for  dinner  ;  but  not  as  bad 
perhaps  as  it  might  be  ;  we  make  the  best  of  the  cruel 
situation.  Our  thoughts  go  out  warmly  to  the  great  un- 
besieged  world.  A  few  gather  at  the  Episcopal  Church 
at  eleven  o'clock ;  '  apparent  rari  nantes  in  gurgite  vas- 
to'  Dr.  Johnston,  Dr.  Swinburne,  Mr.  Curtis,  and  also 


236         FIRST  MUTTERING S   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

many  ladies  present.  The  Episcopal  service  is  read 
and  the  pastor  makes  a  little  address.  Returned  to  the 
legation  at  noon  ;  always  something  to  do,  which  is  a 
blessing.  The  people  here  who  have  nothing  to  occupy 
themselves  with  are  perfectly  desperate.  A  Thanksgiving 
dinner  at  a  restaurant  on  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens  given 
by  two  of  our  American  gentleman.  Quite  a  little  table 
full  and  all  quite  jolly  ;  but  the  portion  of  turkey  to  each 
guest  is  painfully  small.  Toasts,  little  speeches,  till  half 
past  ten,  when  the  guests  retired,  most  of  them  to  go  to 
a  little  Thanksgiving  party  given  by  one  of  our  compat- 
riots." 

Friday  evening,  November  25th,  68th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  The  impression  seems  to  be  gaining  ground  among 
all  classes  that  the  siege  will  continue  yet  a  long  time. 
For  some  reason  there  is  a  more  defiant  and  angry  spirit 
among  the  Parisians,  and  they  are  breathing  more  and 
more  vengeance  against  their  enemies.  They  believe 
the  city  impregnable  and  some  talk  about  holding  out 
until  spring.  Pleasant  thought  to  some  of  us,  who  have 
been  shut  up  here  so  long !  Many  of  the  outsiders 
would  like  to  return  to  Paris  and  look  about  a  little,  and 
I  say  let  the  '  wheels  of  time  roll  swiftly  round.'  Colonel 
Claremont,  the  military  Attache,  and  Captain  Hoare,  the 
Naval  Attache,  of  the  British  legation,  have  procured 
their  passes  of  me  and  will  leave  for  '  foreign  parts  '  next 
Sunday  morning.  They  had  both  become  slightly  dis- 
gusted with  Paris  life  as  at  present  illustrated,  and  so 
they  make  us  their  adieus.  I  am  sorry  to  have  them  go, 
for  they  are  pleasant  gentlemen.  My  relations  with  all 
the  gentlemen  of  the  English  embassy,  including  His 
Lordship,  have  always  been  very  agreeable.  My  stand-by 
here  is  Dr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  Minister-Resident,  a  wise  and 
astute  diplomat,  of  great  experience.  This  has  been  a 


FIRST  MUTTERINGS  OF  THE  COMMUNE,         237 

regular  Paris  gray  day,  a  sort  of  chilly,  dismal,  dragging 
day,  aggravating  my  ague  pains  and  depressing  my  spir- 
its to  the  lowest  notch.  The  poor  Germans  keep  coming 
more  and  more,  starved  like  woodchucks  out  of  their 
holes.  A  poor  Prussian  woman,  Mrs.  Schultze,  who 
gave  birth  to  a  child  a  week  ago,  died  three  days  since, 
leaving  six  little  children  ;  but  a  good  old  Huguenot 
minister  and  his  good  old  Huguenot  wife,  God  bless 
them,  have  found  them  out  and  will  have  them  cared  for. 
The  fifty-franc  note  I  had  sent  the  poor  woman  was 
found  in  a  little  box  in  a  drawer  after  her  death,  where 
she  had  carefully  laid  it  away." 

Saturday  evening,  November  26th,  6gth  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  A  miserable,  dull,  depressing  day.  I  did  not  leave 
the  legation  until  half  past  four  P.M.,  a  good  many  people 
calling.  M.  Jules  Favre  was  at  the  legation  before  I  got 
there  in  the  morning,  to  make  some  inquiries  in  respect 
to  a  certain  matter  about  which  I  cannot  speak  here." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

DESPERATE    SORTIES    OF    THE    FRENCH    TROOPS. 

General  Ducrot's  Effort  to  Break  Through  the  Prussian  Lines — Defeated  and 
Driven  Back — Sufferings  of  the  Troops  from  the  Intense  Cold— Disaster 
to  the  Army  of  the  Loire — The  Parisians  Determined  to  Hold  Out — 
Gloomy  Winter  Days  in  the  Besieged  City— Another  Unsuccessful  Sortie. 

SUNDAY,  November  27th,  7oth  day  of  the  siege. 
"  Seventy  days  of  siege ;  that  is  just  the  length  of 
time  that  Metz  held  out.  Some  enthusiastic  Frenchmen 
say  that  Paris  has  just  entered  upon  the  first  stage  of  the 
siege.  I  must  confess  that  matters  look  to  me  more  and 
more  serious.  The  gates  of  the  city  are  closed  for  good, 
and  no  person,  not  connected  with  the  military,  can  now 
get  outside.  Everything  indicates  that  we  are  to  con- 
front the  iron  realities  of  a  besieged  life.  What  a  mar- 
vel of  change  in  this  great  city  in  three  or  four  weeks  ! 
All  the  levity  of  the  Parisian  people  seems  to  have  dis- 
appeared ;  no  more  fancy  parades  of  the  military  with 
bouquets  and  green  sprigs  stuck  in  the  muzzles  of  their 
guns,  no  more  manifestations  at  the  foot  of  the  statue 
of  Strasburg  ;  no  more  gatherings  of  the  Mobile  and 
the  National  Guard  at  the  Place  of  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  ;  no  more  singing  of  the  Marseillaise ;  no  more 
arresting  of  innocent  people  as  Prussian  spies.  Since 
the  revolution  of  the  3ist  of  October,  the  government 
of  the  National  Defence  has  reigned  supreme,  and  his- 
tory scarcely  records  a  parallel  to  what  we  have  seen 
in  this  vast  city  since  the  siege  began.  With  an  impro- 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  239 

vised  city  government,  without  police,  without  organi- 
zation, without  effort,  Paris  has  never  before  been  so 
tranquil,  and  never  has  there  been  so  little  crime.  You 
do  not  hear  of  a  murder,  robbery,  theft,  or  even  a  row, 
anywhere.  You  may  go  into  every  part  of  the  city  at 
any  hour  of  the  night  and  you  will  find  a  policeman 
there,  and  you  will  have  the  most  perfect  sense  of  secu- 
rity and  safety. 

"  There  is  now  more  serious  talk  than  ever  of  a  sortie. 


An   Ambulance  after  the  Sortie. 


There  has  heretofore  been  so  much  gabble  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  so  many  times  fixed  for  this  sortie  business,  that 
I  now  pay  but  very  little  attention  to  what  is  said.  The 
report  is  that  a  great  movement  will  soon  take  place, 
headed  by  General  Ducrot  who,  at  the  moment,  is  re- 
garded as  a  good  soldier.  The  attempt  is  to  be  made  to 
break  the  lines  and  form  a  junction  with  the  army  of  the 
Loire,  if  such  an  army  exist.  We  have  had  no  reliable 
news  of  anything  outside  for  three  weeks. 

"(Half-past  five  P.M.)     Went  out  between    two  and 
three  o'clock  and  rode  down  the  Champs  Elysees ;  though 


240  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS, 

the  afternoon  had  been  cloudy  and  the  ground  wet,  yet 
there  were  great  crowds  of  people  walking  up  and  down. 
I  am  told  of  great  movements  of  troops  being  made  all 
the  forenoon.  Called  on  some  American  friends  in  the 
Avenue  Friedland,  who  are  bidding  defiance  to  the  siege, 
having  a  '  stock  on  hand  '  for  six  months.  They  recently 
laid  in  a  little  salt  pork  at  $2.00  a  pound." 

Monday,  November  28th,  /ist  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  the  talk  of  a  sortie  and  a  fight 
to-day,  at  this  hour,  eleven  o'clock  A.M.,  all  is  quiet  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine.  But  a  friend  just  in,  says,  it  is  sure 
to  come  off  to-morrow,  and  probably  to-morrow  never 
comes.  He  says  he  will  arrange  for  me  to  go  out  with 
the  ambulance.  An  employee  of  the  legation  this 
moment  comes  in  and  tells  me  that  the  authorities  will 
not  permit  my  bag  to  go  out  to-morrow  morning.  That 
would  indicate  that  they  mean  business.  The  American 
ambulance  wagons  are  all  ordered  to  be  ready  to  move 
at  six  o'clock  to-morrow  morning.  We  have  received  no 
bag  as  is  usual  on  Monday  morning,  and  if  there  are  to 
be  military  movements  there  is  no  telling  when  we  shall 
have  one." 

Monday  evening  : 

"  Entering  on  the  eleventh  week  of  the  siege,  and  after 
so  long  a  time  waiting  in  this  dismal  and  dreary  siege 
life,  after  so  many  false  reports,  there  is  this  evening 
every  indication  that  the  hour  has  finally  come  to  strike. 
The  gates  of  the  city  were  all  shut  yesterday,  and  there 
were  great  movements  of  troops  in  all  directions.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  the  French  will  attack  in  several 
places  at  daylight  to-morrow  morning.  The  American 
ambulance  will  leave  at  six  o'clock  and  I  shall  accompany 
one  of  the  carriages.  A  pitched  battle  is  to  be  fought  by 
the  two  greatest  powers  of  Europe,  under  the  walls  of 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  241 

Paris.  At  two  o'clock  this  afternoon  I  took  a  friend 
with  me  in  my  carriage  and  we  had  a  very  long  ride. 
There  is  something  in  the  atmosphere  and  the  general 


appearance 
of  the  city 
that  betokens 
unusual  events. 
The  day  is  damp,  chilly, 
gloomy  and  cloudy,  but 
the  streets  are  filled. 
The  Avenue  of  the  Champs 
Elysees  is  crowded  with 
the  National  Guard,  march- 
ing up  and  down ;  great 
numbers  of  people  on  both 
sides  of  the  Avenue,  and  a 
very  large  crowd  in  front  of 
the  Palace  of  Industry.  The  Place  de  la  Concorde  is 
rilled  and,  as  we  pass  up  the  Boulevard,  we  find  the 
streets  almost  blocked.  All  is  excitement,  stir  and  bustle. 
We  find  no  diminution  of  numbers  as  we  proceed  along 
the  Boulevards ;  cabs,  omnibuses,  carriages,  National 

16 


National   Guard  on  the  Champs   Elysees. 


242  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

Guards,  Mobiles,  troops  of  the  line,  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, and  etc.,  on  we  go  to  the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  and 
then  through  the  world-renowned  Faubourg  St.  Antoine, 
the  great  revolutionary  quarter  of  Paris,  and  every  one 
is  out  of  doors.  The  scene  is  exciting  and  the  people 
understand  fully  that  something  is  on  foot,  for  there  is  an 
earnestness  in  their  look,  tone  and  conversation.  There 
is  hope  mingled  with  fear,  and  yet  more  hope  than 
seems  to  have  been  felt  heretofore.  Then  we  cross  the 
river  and  go  beyond  the  Orleans  depot,  and  clear  out  to 
the  Barriere  d' Italic,  and  there  we  are  told  of  the  vast 
number  of  troops  that  have  gone  out  to-day.  All  seem 
to  know  that  something  important  is  on  the  tapis.  The 
coming  night  is  one  of  great  anxiety  to  the  people  of 
Paris,  for,  before  another  day  is  past,  the  fate  of  France 
may  possibly  have  been  decided.  The  proclamation  of 
Ducrot  is  very  '  Frenchy.' ' 

Tuesday  evening,  November  29th,  72d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  A  great  disappointment  to  the  people  of  Paris,  who 
had  hoped  for  better  results.  The  information  is  not 
full,  but  one  of  the  officials  told  me  very  frankly  that  the 
'  results  want.'  The  report  is  that  Ducrot  was  unex- 
pectedly checked  in  his  attempt  to  cross  the  Marne  ; 
not  enough  pontoons,  which  reminds  one  of  the  in- 
cidents in  our  war.  I  intended  to  have  gone  to-day 
with  the  American  ambulance.  We  started  at  six 
o'clock  to  rendezvous  at  the  Champ  de  Mars,  and  on 
arriving  there  found  orders  to  return.  At  noon  took 
my  carriage  and  in  company  with  a  friend  started  in 
the  direction  of  Montrouge,  then  passed  the  Barriere 
d'ltalie  and  continued  on  through  the  village  of  Ar- 
cueil.  There  had  been  a  little  fight  in  the  morning, 
but  it  amounted  to  nothing.  We  went  within  eight 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  243 

hundred    yards    of   the    Prussian  outposts,  but  we   saw 
nothing  of  interest  and  heard  but  little. 

"  We  returned  to  the  legation  between  two  and  three 
o'clock,  and  about  four  the  despatch  bag  arrived  bringing1 
a  very  few  letters  and  London  dates  to  November  i8th 
and  New  York  dates  to  October  3ist.  It  is  now  said 
that  great  things  are  to  be  done  to-morrow,  but  the 
evident  want  of  success  to-day  does  not  promise  much 
for  to-morrow.  But  we  shall  see.  These  are  terrible 
hours  to  the  Parisians,  and  Mr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  Min- 
ister, who  has  just  been  in  to  see  me,  says  the  streets 
are  full  of  people  in  a  great  state  of  excitement." 

Wednesday,  5  P.M.,  November  3Oth,  73d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  I  came  to  the  legation  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning 
and  found  that  we  had  been  robbed  last  night.  I  have 
been  protecting  a  German,  who  alleged  that  he  had 
been  abused  by  the  French  and  that  it  was  not  safe 
for  him  to  be  about  in  the  daytime.  I  therefore  per- 
mitted him  to  come  and  stay  at  the  legation.  By  that 
means  he  found  out  where  Antoine  kept  the  money 
and  valuables.  He  concealed  himself  last  night  in  the 
legation  and  broke  open  the  drawer  and  took  ten  or 
fifteen  hundred  francs,  and  a  gold  watch  and  diamond 
ring  left  here  by  an  American  lady.  As  he  could  not 
get  out  of  the  door  to  the  street  without  awaking  the 
concierge,  he  took  advantage  of  a  window  and  the  cur- 
tains, and  let  himself  down  into  the  street.  I  hope 
we  may  catch  the  ungrateful  rascal  whom  I  have  been 
feeding  and  lodging  for  two  months. 

"  As  the  battle  seems  to  be  raging  furiously  about  the 
walls  of  the  city  I  took  my  carriage  a  little  after  noon 
to  go  outside  of  the  barrier.  I  picked  up  an  old  Colo- 
nel of  the  National  Guard  who  accompanied  me.  We 


244  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 


p  a  s  sed 
through 
several  little 
deserted  towns  and 
rode  into  the  large 
village     of     Charenton. 
There    we    heard    of    the 
fight    at    Creteil,    a    little 
beyond.      We    met    many 
ambulances    loaded    with 
the  wounded,  and  all  gave 
reports   of  the    ill    success 
of  the  French.     A  division 
had  gone  out  from  Creteil 
on  the  Ramparts.  to    attack    the     Prussians, 

and  an  Englishman,  whom 

I  met,  told  me  that  the  French  ran  like  a  flock  of  sheep, 
and  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  fizzle.  As  I  did  not 
care  about  going  farther,  I  stopped  within  about  half 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  245 

a  mile  of  Creteil.  There  the  old  Colonel  and  I  went 
into  the  great  fort  of  Charenton  very  near  by.  When 
there  a  man  told  my  venerable  companion  who,  by  the 
way,  was  in  the  Russian  campaign  of  the  First  Napoleon 
and  was  decorated  by  him,  that  Ducrot,  who  was  on  the 
left,  had  been  also  defeated.  I  think  that  is  so,  because 
the  commandant  of  the  fort  was  in  very  bad  humor 
and  even  uncivil,  as  I  would  have  been  under  like  cir- 
cumstances. Hence  I  lay  up  nothing  against  him. 

"  Returning  we  came  through  the  gate  of  Charenton, 
and  it  was  a  sad  sight  as  we  came  within  the  walls  of  the 
city.  The  street  for  half  a  mile  was  literally  blocked  up 
with  people  waiting  with  intense  anxiety  to  hear  the 
news.  The  day  has  been  clear  but  cold,  and  these  poor 
people  had  been  standing  for  hours  in  order  to  learn 
something.  As  we  passed  they  looked  at  us  most  anx- 
iously. As  we  could  not  tell  them  anything  good,  we 
passed  along.  There  was  the  greatest  number  of  women 
and  children  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  all  thinly  clad  and 
shivering  with  cold,  and  with  a  look  of  the  most  sadden- 
ing anxiety  and  distress. 

"  Among  others  whom  I  saw  returning  at  the  same  time 
was  M.  de  Lesseps,  who  was  devoting  his  time  and  his 
fortune  to  one  of  the  French  ambulances  in  assuaging 
the  miseries  of  the  people  of  Paris  and  caring  for  the 
wounded  soldiers." 

Thursday  afternoon,  December  ist,  74th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Leaving  the  legation  at  six  o'clock  last  night,  I  went 
to  the  American  ambulance.  About  eighty  wounded 
men  had  been  brought  in  there.  Dr.  Swinburne  was 
hard  at  work  at  his  operations.  This  ambulance  of  ours 
is  winning  golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people.  It 
is  by  far  the  most  perfect  of  any  here.  It  has  now 


246  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

one  hundred  and  seventy  wounded  from  the  fighting  yes- 
terday. A  Lieutenant-Colonel  died  of  his  wounds  there 
this  morning.  Our  ambulance  men  behaved  nobly  on  the 
field  yesterday  and  went  out  the  farthest  of  any  of  the 
carriages.  My  son  Gratiot  went  out  to  assist,  and  all 
compliment  him  very  highly  for  his  efficiency,  and  even 
bravery,  for  he  went  to  the  rescue  of  some  wounded  in 
the  very  neighborhood  in  which  the  Prussian  shells  were 
falling.  One  poor  fellow  died  in  his  arms. 

"  The  report  is  that  there  are  no  military  operations 
to-day  and  that  the  French  are  entrenching  in  the  posi- 
tions they  gained  yesterday.  As  to  the  results  of  yester- 
day— I  am  unable  to  comprehend  them.  The  French  say 
that  the  '  day  was  good,'  but  I  observe  that  they  have 
not  yet  got  through  the  Prussian  lines.  There  are  no 
details  and  no  information  ;  no  one  really  knows  any- 
thing, as  to  what  has  taken  place.  A  few  lines  in  the 
Journal  Officiel  is  all  that  is  vouchsafed  to  the  Prus- 
sians. This  is  the  first  day  of  winter,  and  it  is  clear  and 
cold,  and  the  soldiers  must  suffer  much." 

Friday,  five  P.M.,  December  2d,  75th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  This  is  a  cold,  frosty  morning.  Ice  made  last  night 
half  an  inch  thick.  The  battle  seems  to  have  commenced 
very  early  this  morning.  The  cannon  have  been  thunder- 
ing all  day,  but  as  I  have  not  been  where  I  could  learn  or 
hear  anything,  I  am  in  ignorance  of  the  events  of  the 
day.  I  have  just  come  up  from  the  Boulevard  Prince 
Eugene,  and  I  saw  many  crowds  shivering  in  the  street 
and  apparently  much  excited.  I  went  up  to  our  house 
this  afternoon  to  see  how  things  looked  there.  While 
waiting,  our  old  maitre  d ' hdtel  rushed  into  the  room,  pale 
as  a  ghost,  and  half  dead  with  fright,  and  utterly  unable 
to  speak  for  the  moment.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
articulate  he  said  the  Prussians  had  just  broken  over  the 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  247 

ramparts  at  the  Porte  Dauphine  and  were  coming  right 
upon  us.  I  laughed  at  him,  but  he  said  it  was  so  because 
a  soldier  had  so  informed  him.  He  soon  took  courage 
and  went  out  in  the  further  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  re- 
turning, reported  that  instead  of  the  Prussians  coming  in, 
the  Mobiles  and  National  Guard  were  going  out  to  take 
the  Prussians — '  over  the  left,'  I  presume.  The  soldiers 
must  suffer  dreadfully  from  the  cold.  From  all  I  can 
hear,  there  has  been  a  great  movement  to-day.  All  Paris 
at  this  moment  trembles  with  anxiety.  There  is  talk  of 
the  bravery  displayed  by  Ducrot.  He  stands  pledged 
before  all  France  to  break  out  of  Paris  or  die  in  the 
attempt. 

"  On  Wednesday  night,  one  of  the  American  ambu- 
lance carriages  was  unable  to  come  in  from  the  field,  and 
as  Ducrot  knew  that  it  belonged  to  us,  he  invited  two  or 
three  Americans,  in  charge  of  it,  to  stay  that  night  with 
him.  He  took  them  to  a  house  denuded  of  furniture,  and 
asked  them  to  supper,  which  consisted  only  of  bread  and 
wine.  Not  a  single  thing  besides  that.  After  supper  the 
general  lay  down  on  the  floor  with  his  guests,  and  thus 
passed  the  night.  The  men  say  he  was  cheerful  and 
filled  with  hope." 

Saturday,  6  P.M.,  December  3d,  76th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Last  night  after  I  left  the  legation  there  was,  in  the 
language  of  an  old  friend  of  mine  in  Hallowell,  Maine, 
'  great  excitement  on  the  lower  street.'  There  were  a 
thousand  of  the  most  outlandish  and  absurd  reports,  and 
nobody  could  tell  anything.  There  had  certainly  been 
heavy  fighting,  and  all  day  an  intense  anxiety  reigned  in 
every  circle.  To  get  at  the  facts,  I  thought  I  should 
walk  down  to  the  Foreign  Office  about  nine  o'clock,  and 
see  M.  Jules  Favre.  I  found  him  in  good  spirits.  He 
said  the  results  of  the  day  had  been  excellent  indeed, 


2 48  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

very  satisfactory  so  far  as  the  fighting  about  Paris  was 
concerned.  The  news  from  the  outside  was  also  good. 
There  was  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men  marching  on  Paris,  and  within  twenty-five  leagues  ; 
indeed,  he  was  very  hopeful.  This  morning  all  Paris  is 
claiming  a  tremendous  victory  yesterday.  They  claim 
to  have  beaten  the  Prussians  in  a  pitched  battle.  They 
say  the  enemy  attacked  with  great  fury  in  the  morning 
and  drove  them  back,  but  that  later  in  the  day,  they  fell 
upon  the  Prussians  and  routed  them  '  horse,  foot,  and 
dragoons,'  not  only  recovering  all  that  they  had  lost  in 
the  morning,  but  even  gaining  some  ground,  and  sleep- 
ing on  what  they  had  won.  I  do  not  pay  much  attention 
to  all  these  reports,  but  I  am  told  that  Ducrot  professes 
to  be  delighted  with  the  results.  At  any  rate,  the  effect 
on  the  Parisians  has  been  magical,  and  the  morale,  both 
of  the  army  and  the  people,  has  been  improved.  While 
the  attempt  to  get  out  on  this  line  has  failed,  I  think  the 
chances  of  getting  out  on  some  other  line  are  improved. 
The  soldiers  now  have  a  confidence  they  have  not  had 
before.  There  has  been  no  fighting  anywhere  to-day. 
This  evening  it  rains  a  little.  The  suffering  of  the  troops 
on  both  sides  must  have  been  fearful  during  these  last 
few  clays.  The  French  were  without  blankets  and  half 
frozen  and  half  starved, — and  raw  troops  at  that.  Tro- 
chu  boasts  that  they  thrashed  one  hundred  thousand  of 
the  elite  of  the  Prussian  army  !  !  Hence  I  guess  they  are 
'  glad  that  they  joined  the  Wideawakes.'  To-day  is  the 
calm  after  the  storm.  I  have  just  come  from  the  Ameri- 
can ambulance  where  I  saw  a  poor  captain  of  the  regular 
army  breathing  his  last.  His  last  moments  were  being 
soothed  by  some  of  our  American  ladies  who  are  devot- 
ing themselves  to  the  sick  and  dying. 

"  Amid  all  of  these  sad  scenes  the  French  will  have 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 


249 


their  fun.  One  of  the  illustrated  papers  exhibits  the 
danger  of  eating  rats,  by  the  picture  of  a  cat  which  has 
jumped  down  a  man's  throat  after  the  rat,  leaving  only 
the  hind  legs  and  tail  sticking  out  of  his  mouth." 

On  the  3d  of  December,  I  wrote  an  official  despatch  to 
my  government  in  answer  to  a  copy  of  the  telegraphic 
despatch  of  the  I5th  of  November,  in  which  Mr.  Fish 
stated  that  the  President  had  instructed  him  to  say  that 
whenever  the  consul  and  myself,  or  either  of  us,  desired 
to  leave  Paris,  we  were  at  liberty  to  do  so,  going  to 
Tours  and  communicating  with  the  proper  officials  there. 
The  despatch  left  it  discretionary  with  me  to  remain  in 
Paris  or  to  go  out  and  repair  to  Tours.  It  was,  there- 
fore, for  me  to  determine  what  the  interest  of  the  govern- 
ment required,  and  what  was  my  duty  in  the  premises. 
If  I  were  shut  off  from  all  communication  with  the  State 
department  at  Washington,  it  might  be  important  that  I 
should  leave  Paris  in  order  to  hold  intercourse  with  my 
government.  Such  was  not,  however,  the  case  at  that 
time,  for  I  was  then  enabled  to  send  despatches  to  Wash- 
ington and  to  receive  them  once  a  week,  which  would  be 
as  much  as  I  should  be  Ifkely  to  do  were  I  at  Tours. 
That  being  the  case,  the  question  for  me  to  decide  was, 
where  could  I  be  of  more  service,  in  Paris  or  in  Tours  ? 
I  said  I  had  no  doubt  on  that  subject  ;  and  great  as  my 
desire  was  to  join  my  family,  from  whom  I  had  been  so 
long  separated,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  remain  in 
Paris,  at  least  for  a  time.  Paris  was  the  seat  of  the 
government  of  the  country  to  which  I  was  accredited  as 
minister,  and  it  was  the  seat  of  the  present  Provisional 
Government  of  the  National  Defence,  which  had  been 
duly  recognized  by  the  United  States.  In  Paris  was  also 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  with  whom  I  had  been 
more  or  less  in  communication.  There  were  still  remain- 


250  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

ing  in  that  city  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  Americans, 
who  had  been  unable  for  various  reasons  to  get  away, 
and  some  of  whom  remained  because  I  stayed.  The 
French  government  had  heretofore  given  them  every  op- 
portunity for  leaving,  which  they  had  not  taken  advan- 
tage of,  and  the  government  now  declined,  for  military 
reasons,  to  permit  the  people  of  any  nationality  to  leave 
Paris.  Therefore  it  was  that  my  countrymen  then  in 
Paris  all  looked  to  me  for  a  certain  protection,  and  they 
would  much  regret  to  see  me  go  away,  leaving  them  be- 
hind. 

There  was  also  a  large  amount  of  American  property 
in  the  city  under  my  protection,  and  circumstances  might 
arise,  when  it  would  become  important  for  me  to  be 
there.  Besides  what  belonged  to  our  own  legation,  I 
was  more  or  less  occupied  every  day  with  the  affairs  of 
the  North  German  Confederation ;  I  was  furnishing  at 
that  time  three  hundred  and  forty-one  poor  Germans 
pecuniary  assistance,  and  the  number  was  increasing 
every  day. 

Under  all  of  the  circumstances  thus  stated  I  thought 
my  determination  to  remain  at  my  post  would  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State. 

It  was  about  this  time,  that  the  city  authorities  of 
Paris,  misconstruing  the  decree  of  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence,  endeavored  to  assess  a  graduated  tax 
on  all  the  apartments  of  people  who  had  left  Paris  for 
any  other  cause  than  that  of  public  safety.  As  a  good 
many  of  my  countrymen,  who  had  been  living  in  Paris 
in  their  own  apartments,  had  left  the  city,  and  their 
apartments  were  vacant,  I  considered  the  idea  of  impos- 
ing a  graduated  tax  upon  them,  under  the  circumstances, 
as  utterly  unauthorized.  As  I  had  assumed  the  general 
protection  of  them,  I  wrote  at  once  to  M.  Jules  Favre, 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS 


251 


protesting  against  such  attempts  and  presenting  my  rea- 
sons, declaring  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  enforcement  of 
such  a  tax  would  be  in  contravention  of  the  principles  of 
natural  justice  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  govern- 
ment. M.  Favre  submitted  my  letter  to  the  government 
of  the  National  Defence,  and  in  due  time  informed  me 
that  the  question  had  been  examined  afresh,  and  that  a 
decision  had  been  made  that  no  further  steps,  should  be 
taken  against  my  compatriots,  whose  apartments  had 
been  assessed. 

Entry  in  my  diary  :  Sunday  morning,  December  4th, 
77th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  A  snapping  cold  morning  this  ;  and  it  must  have  been 
still  more  chilling  to  the  French  when  they  read  the  an- 
nouncement that  Ducrot's  army  had  re-crossed  the  Marne 
and  were  all  back  again  under  the  walls  of  Paris.  But 
after  all  that  was  the  only  thing  that  could  be  done,  so 
long  as  they  could  not  break  the  lines  of  the  enemy. 
Have  remained  in  my  room  nearly  all  day,  hugging  my 
fire.  This  evening  went  to  Mr.  Moulton's,  as  usual  on 
Sunday  evening.  Nothing  talked  of  or  thought  of  but 
the  battles  and  the  siege,  and  the  absent  ones  and  our 
'  bright  and  happy  homes  so  far  away.'  ' 

Monday,  December  5th,  78th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  The  military  authorities  have  refused  me  a  parlemen- 
taire  for  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  have  applied  to  M. 
Jules  Favre.  I  did  not  insist  last  week  because  of  mili- 
tary operations,  but  there  are  no  such  reasons  now  exist- 
ing and  I  believe  that  Favre  will  give  me  the  permission 
to  take  out  the  bag.  I  have  an  accumulation  of  matter  for 
two  weeks,  and  I  must  send  it  out  now.  Ducrot's  Order- 
of-the-Day  appears,  in  which  he  frankly  acknowledges 
that  he  failed  to  get  through  the  Prussian  lines,  but  says 
he  will  try  again  ;  but  nothing  can  be  done  so  long  as 


252  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

this  extreme  cold  weather  continues.  It  is  a  bright,  cold, 
bracing  morning  and  the  most  complete  quiet  every- 
where. '  Not  a  drum  was  heard/  etc." 

On  December  5th  I  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  Lon- 
don papers  to  the  i8th  of  November  and  New  York 
papers  to  November  3d.  I  was,  however,  disappointed  in 
not  getting  by  my  last  despatch  bag  anything  from  the 
State  department.  I  wrote  to  my  government  on  that 
day  in  relation  to  the  heavy  fighting  on  Wednesday,  No- 
vember 3Oth,  and  on  Friday,  December  2d.  Though  I 
could  distinctly  hear  these  battles  raging,  from  the  win- 
dows of  my  legation,  I  was  unable  to  get  any  particular 
information  in  regard  to  them.  As  a  movement  to  go 
through  the  Prussian  lines,  it  was  a  failure.  But  the 
French  claimed  an  advantage.  As  the  newspapers  were 
forbidden  to  say  anything  and  the  Journal  Officiel  only 
vouchsafed  a  few  solemn  lines,  we  were  utterly  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  real  results  of  the  fighting  which  actu- 
ally took  place.  No  statement  had  up  to  that  time  ap- 
peared of  the  losses  of  the  French, — killed,  wounded, 
prisoners,  etc.  I  did  not  think  the  prospects  of  a  suc- 
cessful sortie  were  very  good  at  that  time,  and  unless  it 
should  be  understood  that  the  armies  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  provinces  had  been  substantially  annihilated,  the 
siege  might  last  for  a  long  time.  The  authority  of  the 
government  of  the  National  Defence,  at  that  time  was 
supreme,  and  all  Paris  was  confronting  its  sufferings  with 
fortitude  and  courage. 

On  the  same  day,  December  5th,  I  addressed  Count 
Bismarck  in  relation  to  the  number  of  persons  belonging 
to  the  nationalities  then  at  war  with  France,  who  were 
in  prison  in  Paris,  and  with  whose  protection  I  was 
charged.  I  said  that  they  were  not  accused  of  any 
crime,  but  had  been  arrested  for  being  found  in  the 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  253 

city,  after  they  had  been  ordered  to  leave,  and  for 
being  without  any  means  of  subsistence.  I  added  that 
their  situation  was  miserable  enough,  but  that  they  were 
treated  perhaps,  as  well  as  could  be  expected,  when  the 
existing  state  of  things  in  Paris  was  taken  into  con- 
sideration ;  that  if  they  were  released,  they  would  have 
to  be  supported  by  our  legation,  and  then  they  would  be 
exposed  to  the  hostility  of  the  people  of  the  city.  The 
number  of  poor  Germans  applying  for  pecuniary  assist- 
ance at  my  legation  was  increasing  every  day.  It  had 
then  reached  two  hundred  and  thirteen  families  and,  in- 
cluding children,  there  were  four  hundred  and  ninety-six 
souls.  I  had  employed  a  man  especially  to  look  after 
them.  A  great  many  of  these  people,  reluctant  to  leave 
their  homes,  and  not  supposing  that  the  hostilities  could 
last  long,  had  determined  to  remain  in  Paris,  keeping 
themselves  out  of  sight.  They  had,  however,  at  that  time 
exhausted  all  their  means  and  had  eaten  their  last  morsel. 
As  a  last  resource  they  had  come  to  me  to  relieve  their 
absolute  necessities;  without  the  assistance  which  I  ren- 
dered them  through  the  generosity  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment, they  would  inevitably  have  starved.  I  had 
means  in  my  hands  to  meet  the  existing  emergency,  but 
I  did  not  know  how  many  Germans  would  apply  to  me 
to  be  supported  and  sustained. 

Entry  in  my  diary :  Tuesday,  December  6th,  5.30 
P.M.,  79th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Bad  news  for  the  French.  I  was  down  to  see  Colo- 
nel Claremont,  at  the  English  legation,  this  afternoon, 
and  he  told  me  he  had  just  received  the  news  from  the 
government,  that  the  Army  of  the  Loire  had  been  beaten 
after  a  three  days'  fight,  and  that  Orleans  had  been  re- 
taken. Moltke  had  sent  this  interesting  piece  of  intelli- 
gence to  Trochu.  Ernest  Picard,  Minister  of  Finance, 


254 


DESPERA  TE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 


sent  his  secretary  to  the  legation  this  afternoon  to  see  if 
we  had  received  any  news  on  the  subject,  which  we  had 
not.  We  should  have  received  our  bag  yesterday,  but  it 
has  not  come  yet,  and  it  is  too  late  now  to  receive  it  to- 
day. I  am  curious  to  know  what  the  effect  of  this  Or- 
leans news  will  be  on  the  Parisian  public,  and  whether  it 
will  hasten  the  crisis.  The  weather  to-day  has  been  cold 
and  gray  ;  a  great  movement  of  troops  in  another  part  of 
the  city.  Another  sortie  is  threatened,  which  only  means 
more  butchery.  The  more  we  hear  of  the  battles  of  last 
week,  the  more  bloody  they  seem  to  have  been.  The 
French  have  lost  most  frightfully,  and  particularly  in  offi- 
cers. They  have  shown  great  courage." 

In  the  Journal  Officiel  of  December  yth,  I  find  pub- 
lished this  curious  correspondence  between  Moltke  and 
Trochu  in  respect  to  the  retaking  of  Orleans.  On  De- 
cember 5th,  Count  von  Moltke  wrote  the  following  letter 
to  Trochu  : 

It  might  be  useful  to  inform  Your  Excellency  that  the  Army  of  the 
Loire  was  defeated  yesterday  near  Orleans  and  that  that  city  is  reoccu- 
pied  by  the  German  troops.  If,  at  any  time,  Your  Excellency  judges 
it  apropos  to  be  convinced  of  this  by  one  of  your  officers  I  will  fur- 
nish him  a  safe  conduct  to  go  and  see. 

Closing  his  letter  with  the  usual  formula  : 

Accept,  my  dear  General,  the  expression  of  the  high  consideration, 
with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  very  humble  and  obedient 
servant, 

The  Chief  of  Staff, 

COUNT  VON  MOLTKE. 

From  Paris  on  the  next  day,  December  6th,  Trochu 
made  the  following  reply  : 

Your  Excellency  had  thought  that  it  would  be  useful  to  inform  me 
that  the  Army  of  the  Loire  had  been  defeated  near  Orleans,  and  that 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  255 

that  city  is  reoccupied  by  the  German  troops.  I  have  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  communication,  but  I  do  not  believe 
it  my  duty  to  verify  it  by  the  means  which  Your  Excellency  indicates 
to  me.  Accept,  etc., 

The  Governor  of  Paris, 

GENERAL  TROCHU. 

In  publishing  that  news  the  government  of  the  Na- 
tional Defence  added  a  note  saying  that  "  in  this  news 
which  comes  to  us  from  the  enemy  (supposing  it  to  be 
exact),  we  have  the  right  to  count  upon  the  grand  move- 
ment of  France  which  will  hasten  to  our  assistance.  It 
will  change  nothing,  neither  in  our  resolutions  nor  in  our 
duties.  One  word  alone  sums  them  up  :  Combat.  '  Vive 
la  France!'  'Vive  la  Republique !"  The  Journal  Officiel 
editorially  stated  that  the  contents  of  these  letters  had 
been  made  known  to  the  population  of  Paris  towards  six 
o'clock  the  preceding  evening ;  that  if  Count  von  Moltke 
had  proposed  to  himself  to  terrify  the  Parisians,  his  coup 
had  completely  failed.  To  convince  himself,  he  would 
only  have  to  lend  his  ear  to  what  was  said  during  the 
evening  in  the  groups  upon  the  boulevards  or  upon  the 
public  places.  "  Paris,"  the  editorial  continued,  "  in  spite 
.of  all  bad  news  to-day,  would  not  abandon  its  attitude  of 
resistance — now  that  it  knows  that  the  provinces  have  be- 
come the  theatre  of  an  energetic  movement,  and  that  this 
movement,  in  spite  of  checks  and  disasters,  will  stop  only 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  foreigner.  No  more  in  Paris 
than  in  the  departments  would  we  make  illusions  in  re- 
gard to  the  difficulties  of  our  military  situation.  We  can 
acknowledge  our  reverses.  All  the  world  understands 
them.  But  we  will  not  cease  to  combat  until  we  have 
conquered  an  honorable  and  durable  peace." 

This  number  of  the  Journal  Officiel,  December  ;th, 
could  have  been  anything  but  encouraging  to  the  people 


256  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

of  Paris.  The  military  report  contained  an  account  of 
the  death  of  three  distinguished  officers  who  had  recently 
fallen  on  the  field  of  combat.  One  of  them,  General 
Renault,  commandant  of  the  First  Corps  of  the  Second 
Army  of  Paris,  had  died  on  the  morning  of  December  2d, 
in  consequence  of  the  amputation  of  a  limb.  The  account 
said  that  that  old  warrior  was  overtaken  by  death  at  the 
moment  when  he  dreamed  of  glory  and  of  the  happiness 
of  his  country,  and  that  he  had  died  on  the  field  of  battle. 
While  his  death  could  not  but  be  regretted  in  such  a  time 
of  sacrifice,  it  was  not  necessary  to  mourn,  for  he  had  died 
as  a  soldier.  When  his  sands  of  life  were  fast  running  out 
in  the  hospital,  a  Sister  of  Charity,  who  was  ministering  to 
his  last  moments,  said  to  him,  "  Shall  we  pray  for  you  ?" 
"  Pray  for  France,"  was  the  reply  of  the  old  soldier,  who 
then  turned  over  on  his  pallet  and  died.  He  showed  that 
his  last  thoughts  were  for  that  country  he  loved  so  much, 
and  which  he  had  so  long  and  faithfully  served.  After 
he  had  fallen,  the  Commandant  Francheti  also  succumbed 
in  consequence  of  a  wound  he  had  received, — a  young 
man,  ardent,  vigorous  of  heart  and  mind,  who  had  given 
proof  of  a  bravery  which  challenged  the  admiration  of  all ; 
and  then  the  General  Ladreit  de  la  Charriere  had  died 
the  day  before,  a  soldier  who  had  ever  followed  the  path 
of  duty  and  was  accounted  as  one  of  the  most  valiant 
officers  in  the  French  service.  He  fell  while  leading  an 
attack  at  Mt.  Mesly,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  where  he 
displayed  great  gallantry.  "  Honor  to  him,"  said  the  re- 
port, "and  honor  to  all  of  our  comrades  who  have  fallen 
as  he,  in  defending  the  country." 

Entry  in    my  diary :    Wednesday    evening,   December 
7th,  8oth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  No  bag  to  day  and  we  are  all  disappointed.      Bis- 
marck is  keeping  it  longer  than  usual,  for  some  reason. 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  257 

I  sent  my  bag  out  yesterday,  and  a  great  deal  of  matter 
for  him,  and  I  hope  by  to-morrow  he  will  send  in  my  bag 
from  London.  To-day  has  been  a  sober  and  a  bad  one  for 
the  Parisians,  but  they  bear  up  very  well  under  the  news 
from  the  Army  of  the  Loire  and  the  retaking  of  Orleans. 
It  seems  to  have  made  them  more  determined  than  ever 
before.  Francheti  was  buried  to-day  with  much  pomp  and 
amid  great  emotion.  He  had  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  dash  and  courage.  He  was  a  young  man  yet, 
and  had  all  that  makes  life  enviable — talent,  personal 
beauty,  fortune,  courage  and  troops  of  friends,  a  charm- 
ing wife  and  an  adored  child,  who  had  left  Paris  before 
the  siege. 

"Never  in  history  was  there  more  reckless  and  de- 
voted courage  shown,  than  that  displayed  by  the  French 
officers  in  the  battles  last  week.  They  were  always  in 
the  thickest  of  the  fight.  One  regiment  alone  lost  twenty- 
three  officers.  I  went  down  town  this  afternoon.  The 
weather  having  moderated,  a  great  many  people  were  in 
the  streets,  and  the  Champs  Elysees  were  filled  with  the 
National  Guard  drilling.  The  French  were  still  making 
threats  to  resist  a  entrance" 

Thursday,  December  8th,  4  P.M.,  8ist  day  of  the  siege. 

"  '  Hills  peep  o'er  hills  and  Alps  on  Alps  arise.'  And 
so  one  day  follows  another,  and  never  an  end.  Last 
week  was  the  excitement  of  the  battles,  but  now,  par- 
ticularly since  the  disaster  of  Orleans,  all  is  gloom  and 
sadness.  It  snowed  a  little  last  night  and  to-day  it  is 
thawing  a  little,  and  a  dead,  leaden  sky  still  threatens. 
It  is  so  dark  that  Antoine  lighted  my  lamp  at  3.30  P.M. 
No  bag  yet.  What  can  Bismarck  mean  in  retaining  it 
so  long  ?  I  am  slow  to  make  predictions  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, for  no  one  can  tell  what  will  happen  in 
war.  But  to  my  mind,  peace  is  farther  off  than  ever. 
17 


258  DESPERA TE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

The  French  people  are  becoming  more  and  more  en- 
raged every  day  and  h  entrance  really  seems  to  have 
some  significance.  Notwithstanding  the  stunning  news 
of  Orleans,  the  dead  and  wounded  of  the  battles  of  last 
week,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  people  of  Paris,  not  one 
man  cries  peace  or  armistice  in  all  France.  The  senti- 
ment to-day  is,  and  it  may  change  to-morrow,  '  Let  the 
fight  go  on.'  '  Take  Paris  at  the  last  extremity  ;  hold  it 
by  military  power ;  it  never  will  treat  with  you  ;  we  will 
organize  our  government  in  the  departments,  we  will 
levy  en  masse  and  raise  another  army  of  a  million  men. 
The  whole  population  shall  fight  you  everywhere  and  with 
all  weapons.  We  are  forty  millions  of  people — a  people 
of  proud  and  martial  spirit — every  one  of  whom  is  in- 
stigated by  a  spirit  of  deadly  revenge.  The  whole  re- 
sources of  the  country,  of  every  nature  and  description, 
will  be  devoted  to  the  purging  of  our  soil  of  Prussian 
foes.  It  may  take  one  year,  two  years,  three  years,  but 
the  Prussians  shall  be  chased  from  France.'  This  is  not 
my  talk  but  French  talk,  and  it  may  become  true  to  a 
certain  extent,  and  if  so,  we  will  hang  up  the  '  fiddle  and 
the  bow  '  in  Paris,  and  follow  around  after  the  govern- 
ment. What  a  dispersion  of  our  countrymen  will  there 
be — those  who  have  been  living  so  long  in  apartments 
in  this  gay  city  !  Who  can  measure  the  future  of  Paris 
and  of  France,  judging  from  the  situation  of  to-day  ! " 

Friday,  December  gth,  82d  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  only  wish  that  old  chap  who  wrote  the  line,  '  And 
make  each  day  a  critic  on  the  last '  could  be  in  Paris  on 
this  day.  If  he  did  not  find  himself  played  out  before 
night,  then  I  should  write  myself  down  as  no  prophet 
and  no  son  of  a  prophet.  To  criticise  yesterday  by  to- 
day would  be  like  a  kettle  calling  the  pot  black.  The 
same  damp,  dark,  leaden,  dreary  day;  but  I  house  myself 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  259 

and  will  not  go  out  until  evening,  when  I  am  engaged  to 
dine  with  Baroness  de  Rothschild  and  her  two  sons,  Al- 
phonse  and  Gustave.  I  took  a  violent  cold  a  few  days 
ago  and  have  not  since  been  quite  well.  (2.30  P.M.) 
*  Hail  mighty  day.'  The  good  maltre  d' hdtel,  Francis, 
has  brought  me  for  lunch  two  fresh  eggs,  boiled  three 
minutes,  a  crop  from  the  hens  in  the  garden.  Only 
think,  a  fresh  egg  the  82d  day  of  the  siege  and  in  the 
dead  of  winter !  Who  says  Paris  will  be  starved  out  ? 
I  have  no  news  from  out-doors  to-day,  as  no  one  has 
called,  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  morning  papers  of 
any  interest. 

"  The  report  of  the  battles  of  last  week  appeared  yes- 
terday, and  the  losses  of  the  French  were  in  killed  1,008, 
wounded,  5,022  ;  in  all,  6,030.  Not  a  mean  loss.  The 
wonder  now  is  how  great  the  Prussian  loss  was.  Michel 
Chevalier's  house  is  now  a  hospital,  which  Dr.  Johnston 
has  charge  of.  Dr.  Swinburne  is  exciting  the  admiration 
of  all  Paris  by  his  successful  operations  at  the  American 
ambulance.  No  bag  yet.  Bismarck  refuses  to  let  it 
come  in  for  some  reason  or  another." 

Saturday  evening,  December  loth,  83d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Had  a  very  pleasant  dinner  last  night  at  the  Baron- 
ess de  Rothschild's.  She  is  the  widow  of  the  Baron 
James  de  Rothschild,  dead  some  two  or  three  years  ago, 
who  was  the  great  banker  of  the  world.  Her  residence 
is  in  the  Rue  Laffitte,  and  is  a  perfect  palace.  She  is  one 
of  the  most  charming  and  agreeable  old  ladies  I  have  met 
with  for  a  long  time.  Her  three  sons  and  three  or  four 
literary  men  made  up  the  party  of  the  diner  du  siege. 
In  my  room  all  day,  and  at  three  o'clock  the  long  looked- 
for  bag  made  its  appearance,  bringing  me  but  a  solitary 
letter,  and  that  from  Brussels,  and  my  official  letters, 


260  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

London  dates,  the  25th,  and  New  York  dates  the  i2th 
ult.  But  Bismarck  writes  that  he  does  not  want  me  to 
have  London  papers,  and  so  I  shall  stop  them.  Not  a 
word  of  news  in  the  city  to-day ;  the  weather  very  cold." 

Sunday  afternoon,  December  nth,  84th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  My  cold  worse  than  ever  to-day  and  I  am  unable  to 
go  out.  I  read  my  newspapers  and  write  letters  ;  peo- 
ple come  in  and  say  the  weather  is  horrible  outside. 
For  the  first  time  there  is  talk  about  the  supply  of  bread 
getting  short,  and  that  the  rationing  must  soon  com- 
mence. When  the  people  are  put  on  short  allowances 
of  bread,  having  nothing  else,  it  must  be  the  beginning 
of  the  end." 

Monday  noon,  December  i2th,  85th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  We  are  now  entered  on  the  i3th  week  of  the  siege. 
The  Journal  Officiel  this  morning  says  that  there  is 
bread  enough  and  that  there  will  be  no  rationing.  That 
means,  Paris  is  to  hold  out  for  a  long  time  yet.  My  mai- 
tre  d'hotel  tells  me  that  the  baker  shops  are  crammed 
with  bread  this  morning.  The  news  of  the  disasters  out- 
side begin  to  creep  in,  one  way  or  another,  but  it  appar- 
ently does  not  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  courage  of 
these  people.  They  imagine  something  to  offset  all  the 
bad  news  that  they  receive.  It  is  hard  to  deal  with  such 
a  spirit  as  the  French  people  now  exhibit,  but  it  may  all 
change  in  a  day.  I  must  now  leave  my  house  and  go  to 
the  legation  to  prepare  the  bag  so  it  can  go  out  to-mor- 
row morning. 

"  I  wrote  a  letter  to-day  to  my  colleague,  the  Hon- 
orable George  Bancroft,  at  Berlin,  who  wishes  me  to  in- 
tercede in  getting  some  Danish  friends  out  of  Paris.  I 
had  to  tell  him,  however,  that  I  feared  nothing  could  be 
done,  as  the  military  authorities  on  both  sides  were  un- 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  261 

willing  to  permit  anybody  to  leave  '  these  gay  and  festive 
scenes  ; '  and  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  me  to  avail 
myself  of  the  permission  of  the  President  to  leave  Paris. 
There  were  so  many  of  our  countrymen  who  were  lean- 
ing on  me,  and  so  much  American  property  to  look  after; 
and  then  I  had  a  great  deal  to  do  as  the  protector  of  the 
Germans ;  and  that  I  was  furnishing  pecuniary  aid  to 
more  than  six  hundred,  who  would  have  starved  had  it 
not  been  for  the  generosity  of  the  Prussian  government. 
"  To-day  I  also  addressed  an  official  communication 
to  Washington  giving  an  account  of  the  state  of  things 
in  Paris.  I  said,  that  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  Army 
of  the  Loire  and  the  retaking  of  Orleans,  as  communi- 
cated by  Moltke,  had  made  but  little  impression  on  the 
people  of  Paris ;  that  General  Trochu  had  been  fully  sus- 
tained in  his  refusal  to  send  an  officer  to  verify  the  facts 
as  suggested  by  Moltke ;  that  the  government  of  the 
National  Defence  and  the  people  of  Paris  seemed  to  have 
abandoned  all  idea  of  an  armistice,  or  of  a  peace,  and  to 
have  made  up  their  minds  to  resist  to  the  last  extremity, 
and  until  every  resource  was  exhausted.  I  stated  that 
there  were  various  opinions  as  to  the  length  of  time  the 
city  could  hold  out  ;  that  on  the  day  before,  there  was  a 
great  bread  panic,  but  that  it  had  been  allayed  by  the  an- 
nouncement in  the  Journal  Officiel  that  there  was  bread 
enough,  and  that  there  was  no  necessity  of  any  rationing 
for  the  present.  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  was  pos- 
sible for  the  city  to  hold  out  until  the  first  of  February, 
but  qualified  that  opinion  by  saying  that  it  must  all  be 
guess-work.  A  good  many  people  thought  that  the  pro- 
visions would  give  out  suddenly,  to  be  followed  by  an  ir- 
resistible clamor  for  a  surrender,  and  I  did  not  expect  the 
siege  to  be  raised  by  a  successful  sortie.  Everything 
seemed  almost  as  bad  as  possible  for  the  people  of  Paris 


262  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

as  well  as  France.  The  suffering  in  the  city  was  much 
aggravated  by  the  extreme  and  unseasonable  cold 
weather.  I  said  that  the  mortality  of  the  previous  week 
was  frightful,  and  that  a  great  many  old  people  and  a 
great  many  children  were  perishing  from  a  want  of  suit- 
able food  and  from  the  cold." 

Tuesday,  December  I3th,  5  P.M.,  86th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  '  Short  and  simple '  are  the  '  annals  of  the  poor,'  and 
very  short  and  very  simple  are  the  annals  of  this,  the 
86th  day  of  the  siege  ;  but  the  French  people  all  call 
it  the  88th  day  of  the  siege,  dating  from  Saturday,  the 
1 7th  day  of  September,  while  I  date  from  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  the  igth.  I  have  nothing  to  record. 
Taking  an  additional  cold  yesterday,  I  have  been  un- 
able to  leave  my  room  to-day,  and  have  been  re-read- 
ing the  newspapers  from  home.  Two  friends  have  just 
been  in,  but  not  a  word  of  news.  The  day  has  been 
like  the  days  described  by  Robinson  Wing,  '  dark  and 
stormy.'  It  is  now  near  an  end." 

Wednesday,  December  i4th,  6  P.M.,  8;th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  I  have  great  respect  for  that  chap  who  went  around 
shouting  '  hurrah  for  nothing,'  and  he  would  be  at  home 
were  he  in  Paris  to-day.  There  is  less  than  'nothing' 
here  to-day.  One  of  the  most  gloomy,  long-drawn-out 
days  of  the  siege,  the  natural  gloom  augmented  by  the 
sinister  report  regarding  the  reverses  in  the  provinces  ; 
but  the  government  is  fast  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  Empire  in  keeping  back  bad  news.  I  have  not  been 
out  of  my  room  to-day,  and  my  cold  is  now  reinforced 
by  the  old  Galena  fever  and  ague  pains.  The  papers 
discuss  the  provision  question.  One  argues  that  there 
are  provisions  enough  for  three  months  yet.  But  I 
take  it,  that  it  is  all  guess-work;  anyhow,  I  should  rather 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  263 

be  keeping  school  in  Hartford  than  be  here.  I  sigh 
for  the  doughnuts  and  hot  rolls  at  Proctor's,  the  sau- 
sages and  roast  potatoes  at  Stetson's,  the  Johnny-cake 
and  fresh  pork  at  Crocker's,  and  the  roast  goose  and 
apple-sauce  at  Gammon's." 

Thursday,  December  i5th,  6  P.M.,  88th  day  of  the  siege. 

'*  The  old  Latin  poet  who  exclaimed  'jam  claudite 
rives'  had  undoubtedly  been  reading  the  diary  of  some 
poor  devil,  shut  up  nearly  thirteen  weeks  in  a  besieged 
city.  The  sortie,  that  was  to  have  come  off  to-day, 
seems  to  have  been  '  postponed  on  account  of  the 
weather,'  or  for  some  other  reason.  No  fighting  now 
for  two  weeks ;  although  there  has  been  a  vast  amount 
of  vaporing,  and  many  burials  of  the  dead.  Baron 
Gaillard  is  the  latest  victim  of  destruction.  He  had 
been  long  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  France,  and  at 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  took  a  colonelcy  of  the 
Mobiles.  He  fell  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  in  one 
of  the  late  battles,  mortally  wounded.  He  was  buried 
to-day  from  the  Madeleine  with  great  pomp. 

"  Went  to  the  legation  this  afternoon  at  two  o'clock. 
The  ante-room  was  filled  with  poor  German  women  ask- 
ing aid.  I  am  now  giving  support  to  more  than  six  hun- 
dred women  and  children.  Bismarck  writes,  thanking  me 
for  what  I  am  doing  and  asking  me  to  continue  it.  At 
4.30  this  afternoon  I  called  to  see  my  colleague,  Count 
Moltke,  the  Danish  Minister-Resident.  He  says  that  the 
Parisians  have  bad  news,  and  that  in  the  late  battle  the 
Army  of  the  Loire  lost  twenty-three  thousand  men  and 
ninety-six  guns.  It  was  dark  when  I  started  home  ;  and 
could  it  be  the  calm,  brilliant,  gay  streets  of  Paris  that  I 
had  before  travelled,  from  the  Rue  de  1'Universite  to  the 
Rue  de  Lcndres  ?  Ill-lighted,  dark,  and  dirty,  it  was 
Paris  no  more.  Moltke  agrees  with  me  that  there  is  no 


264  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

peace  in  sight,  and  that  we  may  have  to  '  pack  up  our 
duds '  so  soon  as  Bismarck  comes  in,  and  follow  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  National  Defence  ;  but  he  says  further, 
and  truly,  that  nobody  can  tell  what  the  French  people 
will  do." 

It  was  on  this  day  that  Count  Bismarck  wrote  me  an- 
other letter  in  relation  to  M.  Raynal,  whom  I  have  before 
spoken  of  as  having  been  arrested  at  Versailles  and  sent 
off  to  Germany.  I  was  visited  by  the  father  of  the  young 
man  in  Paris,  who  was  very  much  exercised  in  regard  to 
the  trouble  which  his  son  had  got  into.  I  interested  my- 
self with  Count  Bismarck  in  behalf  of  the  son.  In  this 
letter  the  Count  advised  me  that  M.  Raynal  was  con- 
fined at  Minden,  and  that  the  orders  had  been  given  to 
allow  him  all  the  facilities  compatible  with  his  position, 
and  that  nothing  prevented  his  father,  therefore,  from 
sending  him  assistance  in  money.  I  mention  this  to 
show  that  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases  where  I  had  in- 
terested myself  for  the  Frenchmen  and  taken  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  to  serve  them,  I  never  received  the  least 
recognition  for  what  I  had  done. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  question  was  being  dis- 
cussed between  the  French  and  Prussian  governments  in 
regard  to  the  sailors  of  the  German  commercial  marine 
captured  by  the  French  naval  forces.  The  German  gov- 
ernment insisted  that  the  French  government  had  no 
right  to  hold  such  sailors  as  prisoners ;  and,  as  they  were 
disconnected  from  military  operations,  that  it  was  in 
flagrant  opposition  to  the  principles  of  modern  civilization 
that  they  should  be  held  as  such  prisoners.  Bismarck, 
therefore,  made  it  known  to  me  that  if  the  French  per- 
sisted in  holding  them  as  prisoners,  the  King's  govern- 
ment would  arrest  in  all  French  cities,  occupied  by  the 
German  troops,  the  principal  inhabitants,  who  would  be 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  265 

treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  who  would  undergo  the 
same  fate  as  the  German  sailors  of  the  commercial  ma- 
rine were  undergoing,  who  had  been  unjustly  detained 
as  captives  in  France. 

Entry  in  my  diary  :  Friday  evening,  December  i6th, 
Sgth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  If  anything  could  dishearten  and  discourage  the 
French  people,  one  would  have  supposed  it  would  have 
been  the  news  that  came  this  morning,  of  the  disasters 
at  Orleans,  Amiens  and  Rouen.  But  the  Parisians 
seemed  to  take  it  rather  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  only 
wonder  that  it  was  not  worse.  No  signs  of  giving  in,  but 
apparently  a  more  fixed  determination  to  hold  out  and 
make  war  h  entrance.  These  people  seem  to  have  dis- 
missed every  idea  of  peace  from  their  minds,  and  only 
look  now  at  an  indefinite  prolongation  of  the  siege.  I 
saw  M.  Jules  Favre  this  afternoon  and  much  to  my  sur- 
prise found  him  in  good  spirits  and  full  of  courage.  He 
said  there  was  nothing  to  discourage  the  government  in 
the  news  received,  and  that  they  were  never  so  deter- 
mined to  hold  out  as  now  ;  and  that  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  a  peace.  It  is  hazardous  to  make  predictions  in 
regard  to  anything  in  which  the  French  are  now  con- 
cerned. But  it  seems,  from  my  point  of  view  here,  that 
peace  is  out  of  the  question  for  a  very  long  time ;  though 
really  the  occupation  of  Paris  by  the  Prussians  is  now 
reduced  to  a  question  of  weeks,  and  then  my  occupation 
here  may  be  gone,  and  not  resumed  for  a  long  time. 
The  removal  of  the  outside  seat  of  government  from 
Tours  to  Bordeaux  will  take  the  Diplomatic  Corps  to  the 
latter  place.  What  may  be  the  fate  or  condition  of 
Paris  in  such  an  event  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  Nobody 
will  want  to  stay  here  under  such  circumstances,  and  I  ex- 


266  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

pect  all  our  American  friends  will  only  return  temporarily 
to  arrange  about  their  apartments  and  then  leave  the  city. 
And  what  derangement  of  plans,  and  what  frustration  of 
hopes  that  would  bring  !  The  day  has  been  cloudy,  but 
no  rain.  The  streets  were  unusually  full  of  people  this 
afternoon  as  I  rode  down  to  the  Rue  Laffitte,  and  when  I 
saw  ail  the  horses  of  the  cabs  and  omnibuses  and  private 
carriages — in  the  artillery  and  cavalry,  and  in  the  military 
service  generally — in  good  order,  I  wondered  how  they 
could  be  fed  !  It  is  astonishing,  the  amount  of  stuff  that 
was  got  into  Paris  before  the  siege.  I  still  think  the  city 
can  hold  out  till  the  first  of  February,  though  M.  Jules 
Favre  rather  dodged  the  question  this  afternoon." 

Saturday  evening,  December  1 7th,  goth  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Nothing  to-day  of  the  least  interest  whatever. 
Called  to  see  my  wise  old  friend,  Dr.  Kern,  the  Swiss 
Minister- Resident,  who  finds  the  situation  very  bad  for 
France.  Next  door  to  him,  in  the  Rue  Blanche,  No.  5,  is 
the  butchery  for  dogs,  cats  and  rats.  Being  in  the  neigh- 
borhood I  looked  in,  and  I  saw  the  genuine  article  on 
sale.  The  price  of  the  dog  meat  has  advanced.  Many 
people  were  at  the  legation  during  the  day.  The  distress 
augments  on  every  hand.  The  weather  continues  horri- 
ble ;  not  ten  minutes  of  sun  in  ten  days.  No  bag  yet. 
Vegetated  all  day  over  my  bright  fire,  in  grim  expecta- 
tion. Two  pigeons  presented  to  me  to-day,  which  I  have 
handed  over  to  the  maltre  d' hotel  to  be  fattened." 

Sunday,  P.M.,  December  i8th,  Qist  day  of  the  siege. 

"  A  quiet  morning  for  writing  in  my  room.  Have  only 
had  two  callers.  Gambetta  telegraphed  news  up  to  the 
1 2th,  and  put  the  best  face  he  could  on  things,  but  I 
think  the  Army  of  the  Loire  has  been  badly  used  up. 
Gambetta  is  always  full  of  pluck  and  courage,  and  is  con- 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  267 

sumed  by  enthusiasm.  He  is  all  there  is  of  the  govern- 
ment of  France  outside  of  Paris.  He  is  a  short,  thick- 
set man,  only  thirty-four,  hair  very  black,  and  black  beard 
all  over  his  face,  eyes  black  and  restless,  fiery  and  elo- 
quent. He  has  displayed  the  most  superhuman  activity 
since  he  left  Paris. 

"  (6  P.M.)  At  3  P.M.  went  out  riding.  The  boule- 
vards were  full  of  people  and  the  Champs  Elysees  still 
more  crowded,  and  looking  quite  like  Paris.  Rode  up  to 
our  house,  No.  75,  now  Avenue  Uhrich,  but  it  was  no 
longer  a  summer  morning  in  the  leafy  month  of  June. 
Then  went  to  the  American  ambulance,  then  made  a  call, 
and  then  home.  It  is  said  there  is  to  be  another  sortie 
to-morrow,  but  what  good  !  Only  more  bloodshed  and 
nothing  effected.  It  seems  shocking  to  see  all  of  these 
brave  men  go  to  their  death.  To  die  for  one's  country 
is  one  thing,  but  to  die  without  doing  the  country  any 
good  is  quite  another  thing." 

Monday,  December  rgth,  92d  day  of  the  siege. 

"  No  bag  yet,  and  hence  nothing  since  the  25th  ult.  I 
think  Bismarck  is  not  going  to  permit  me  to  receive  any- 
thing more.  Perhaps  he  is  a  little  out  of  sorts  in  not 
getting  into  Paris.  It  is  doubtful  about  my  bag  going 
out  as  usual  to-morrow,  as  they  talk  of  another  sortie.  It 
did  not  come  off  to-day.  Always  to-morrow.  I  tremble 
for  the  torrents  of  blood  that  are  to  flow.  I  am  heart 
sick  over  this  mock  display  of  the  military ;  nothing  but 
soldiers,  soldiers,  soldiers,  everywhere  you  move.  A 
quiet,  sour,  dreary  day,  but  not  cold.  We  ate  mule  meat 
yesterday  for  dinner  for  the  first  time.  It  cost  $2.00  per 

pound  in  gold.  G continues  well,  and  my  cold  is 

better  though  I  cough  a  good  deal." 

On  this  day,  December  igth.  I  wrote  an  official  de- 
spatch to  my  government  stating  that  there  had  been  no 


268  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

military  movements  in  or  about  Paris  for  some  time  ;  but 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  quiet  had  prevailed. 

1  said  that  another  sortie  was  to  be  attempted  on  the 

2  ist,  the  result  of  which  would  be  known  in  Washington 
long  before  my  despatch  could  reach  there.     I  stated  fur- 
ther that  I  did  not  see  the  least  indication  of  yielding  on 
the  part  of  the  people  of  Paris,  and  I  had  no  reason  to 
change  the  opinion  which  I  had  hitherto  expressed,  that 
the  city  would  hold  out  until  the  first  of  February.     The 
surrender   appeared  to    be    inevitable,  and    it  was  then 
only  a  question  of  weeks.      Peace  was  then  regarded  as 
out   of   the  question.      If   the    Prussians    came    in,  they 
would  hold  military    possession   of  the   city,  and  there 
would  not  be  even  the  shadow  of  a  French  government 
there.      I  said  further  that,  unless  something  unforeseen 
occurred,  I   proposed  to  remain  in  Paris  till  the  end.      I 
said  that  the  despatch  bag  which  left  London  on  the  25th 
of  November  had  only  just  reached  me  ;    that  we  had 
had  no  news  from  the  outside  since  that  date,  except  the 
merest  scrap  brought  in  by  pigeons,  and  a  few  items  from 
the  German  newspapers  that  had,  by  some  means,  found 
their  way  into  Paris.      In  one  of  these  papers  was  a  brief 
abstract  of  the  President's  message,  in  which  it  was  said 
that  I  had  performed  my  mission,  as  the  protector  of  the 
Germans  residing  in  France,  in  a  "satisfactory  manner." 

On  the  same  day  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Count  Bismarck, 
stating  that  the  number  of  Germans  to  whom  I  was  then 
giving  succor  had  increased  to  eleven  hundred  and  seven 
souls,  and  that  additional  ones  were  coming  in  every 
day  ;  that  my  legation  was  crov/ded  daily  with  those  un- 
fortunate people  in  the  last  stage  of  misery,  and  that  I 
gave  each  one  all  proper  aid. 

Entry  in  my  diary  :  Tuesday  evening,  December  2Oth, 
93d  day  of  the  siege. 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  269 

"  Great  stir  and  great  preparation  for  the  sortie  to- 
morrow. Many  think  that  the  attempt  is  not  earnest, 
and  is  merely  made  to  arouse  the  people.  At  i  P.M., 
two  bags  came,  one  leaving  London  on  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber and  the  other  on  the  loth.  The  first  one  contained 
newspapers,  and  the  one  leaving  on  the  loth  only  official 
despatches  and  private  letters  for  me.  It  is  understood 
in  London  that  the  Prussians  objected  to  my  having 
newspapers.  Bismarck,  however,  writes  to  me  that  there 
was  a  misunderstanding,  and  that  he  had  no  objection  to 
my  receiving  newspapers  for  my  own  perusal,  but  not  to 
be  made  public ;  and  further,  that  he  had  written  to 
London  to  that  effect.  So  that  in  a  week  or  two  I  shall 
begin  to  get  the  papers  again,  and  if  we  are  to  be  shut 
up  until  February,  it  will  be  a  great  relief  to  me.  The 
last  papers  from  New  York  were  of  the  igth  ult.,  and 
from  London  of  the  2d  inst.  From  all  I  can  see  in 
the  London  papers,  I  think  the  French  armies  in  the 
provinces  are  substantially  annihilated,  and  to-day  is 
probably  the  last  fighting  of  the  Paris  Army." 

Wednesday  evening,  December  2ist,  94th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  The  fighting  has  been  going  on  all  day,  but  I  do  not 
think  it  has  amounted  to  much  for  the  French.  Heard 
a  few  rumors  at  the  legation.  At  4  P.M.  rode  up  to  the 
American  ambulance  to  see  what  they  had  there.  I 
found  that  the  carriages  had  just  come  in  from  the  battle- 
field with  about  a  dozen  wounded,  and  some  of  them  mor- 
tally. The  fighting  was  mainly  an  artillery  duel.  The 
French  failed  in  retaking  Le  Bourget.  The  day  has  been 
cold.  Dined,  as  is  usual  on  Wednesday,  at  Mr.  Moul- 
ton's,  and  I  should  never  ask  to  sit  down  to  a  nicer  din- 
ner. Perhaps  to-morrow  night  I  may  be  able  to  record 
something  definite  as  to  the  fighting  around  Paris." 


2 70  DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS. 

Thursday  evening,  December  22d,  95th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  The  coldest  day  of  the  season.  As  this  was  the  day 
the  French  were  to  break  through,  Mr.  Huffer  and  I 
thought  we  would  walk  up  to  the  heights  of  Montmartre 
to  see  what  there  was  there.  From  that  point  the  whole 
surrounding  country  could  be  seen.  What  was  our  sur- 
prise to  find  not  even  a  sign  of  any  military  operations. 
Our  ambulance  men  returned  this  afternoon  and  re- 
ported that  nothing  had  been  done  to-day.  All  was  a 
failure  yesterday.  The  army  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  men  accomplished  nothing.  They  made  one 
attack  on  the  battery  at  Le  Bourget  and  were  repulsed 
with  the  loss  of  a  thousand  men  ;  and  on  the  plain  that 
vast  army  stood  all  day  yesterday  in  the  terrible  cold  and 
remained  all  last  night,  still  colder,  without  shelter  and 
almost  without  food.  G—  — ,  who  was  out  both  yesterday 
and  to-day,  saw  all,  and  gives  an  account  of  the  dreadful 
sufferings  of  the  troops.  .  To-night  is  much  colder  than 
last  night,  and  if  the  poor  soldiers  have  to  remain  out, 
half  of  the  army  must  be  used  up.  All  of  our  ambulance 
men,  who  were  out,  concur  that  there  has  never  been  any- 
thing more  wretched  than  these  last  two  days." 

Friday  evening,  December  23d,  g6th  day  of  the  siege. 

"A  cold,  bright,  clear  day.  No  military  movements, 
and  the  great  sortie  has  proved  a  grand  fizzle,  resulting 
in  nothing  but  loss  to  the  French.  One  of  their  best 
generals  has  been  killed.  I  understand  that  their  whole 
loss  will  amount  to  fifteen  hundred  men  besides  the 
vast  number  who  have  been  put  hors  de  combat  by  the 
excessive  cold.  The  situation  is  becoming  much  more 
grave  in  Paris  ;  the  suffering  intense,  and  augmenting 
daily.  Clubs  are  beginning  to  agitate  ;  hunger  and  cold 
are  doing  their  work.  From  the  misery  I  heard  of  yes- 


DESPERATE  SORTIES  OF  THE  FRENCH  TROOPS.  271 

terday  I  begin  to  think  it  impossible  for  the  city  to  hold 
out  to  the  first  of  February,  as  I  have  predicted.  They 
are  killing  off  the  horses  very  fast.  I  heard  that  the  om- 
nibuses would  stop  running  next  week.  Very  few  cabs 
are  in  the  street  at  present,  and  they  will  soon  disappear. 
In  passing  along  the  Champs  Elysees  at  noon  the  other 
day  I  could  not  count  half  a  dozen  vehicles  all  the  way 
from  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde. 
Without  food,  without  carriages,  without  lighted  streets, 
there  is  anything  but  a  pleasant  prospect  ahead.  There 
is  a  certain  discouragement  evidently  creeping  all  through 
Paris,  and  the  dreary  days  and  weeks  run  on.  In  the  be- 
ginning no  man  was  wild  enough  to  imagine  that  the 
siege  would  last  until  Christmas." 

Saturday  evening,  December  24th,  97th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  Another  cold,  clear  day,  and  no  military  operations. 
The  movements  of  this  week  have  only  proved  simple 
failures,  and  have  only  brought  unheard-of  sufferings  to 
the  soldiers.  A  good  many  little  bits  of  news  have  got 
in  by  means  of  the  newspapers  found  on  Prussian  prison- 
ers. There  has  evidently  been  a  good  deal  of  fighting  on 
all  sides,  and  the  Prussians  have  lost  men  as  well  as  the 
French.  The  French  must  do  a  good  deal  better  out- 
side than  inside,  or  else  nothing  can  come  out  of  it  all. 
This  enormous  force  of  five  hundred  thousand  men  now 
under  arms  for  fourteen  weeks  has  accomplished  noth- 
ing, and  will  not  accomplish  anything  so  long  as  things 
remain  as  they  are." 


CHAPTER   IX. 

BEFORE    AND    DURING    THE    BOMBARDMENT. 

A  Gloomy  Christmas  Day — Scarcity  of  Meat  and  Fuel — The  Parisians  Losing 
Heart — Recollections  of  an  Illinois  Campaign — Dismal  Opening  of  the 
New  Year — Beginning  of  the  Bombardment — Shells  Bursting  in  the  City 
Streets — The  Killed  and  Wounded— Protest  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps. 

ON  Christmas,  Sunday,  December  25th,  the  gSth  day 
of   the   siege,   I    made   the  following  entry  in   my 
diary  : 

"  Never  has  a  sadder  Christmas  dawned  on  any  city. 
Cold,  hunger,  agony,  grief  and  despair  sit  enthroned  in 
every  habitation  of  Paris.  It  is  the  coldest  day  of  the 
season  and  the  fuel  is  very  short,  and  the  government 
has  had  to  take  hold  of  that  question.  The  magnificent 
shade  trees,  that  have  for  ages  adorned  the  avenues 
of  this  city,  are  all  likely  to  go  in  the  vain  struggle 
to  save  France.  So  says  the  Journal  Officiel  of  this 
morning.  The  sufferings  of  the  past  week  exceed  by  far 
anything  we  have  seen.  There  is  scarcely  any  meat  but 
horse  meat,  and  the  government  is  now  rationing.  It 
carries  out  its  work  with  impartiality.  The  omnibus 
horse,  the  cab  horse,  the  work  horse,  and  the  fancy  horse, 
all  go  alike  in  the  morning  procession  to  the  butcher 
shop  ;  the  magnificent  blooded  steed  of  the  Rothschilds 
by  the  side  of  the  old  plug  of  the  cabman.  Fresh  beef, 
mutton,  and  pork  are  now  out  of  the  question.  A  little 
poultry  yet  remains  at  fabulous  prices.  In  walking 
through  the  Rue  St.  Lazare,  I  saw  a  middling-sized  goose 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     273 

and  chicken  for  sale  in  a  shop  window  and  I  had  the  curi- 
osity to  step  in  and  inquire  the  price  (rash  man  that  I 
was).  The  price  of  the  goose  was  $25.00,  and  the  chicken 
$7.00.  The  news  creeps  in  of  the  denunciation  of  the 
Luxembourg  Treaty  by  the  Prussians,  and  that  tickles 
the  French  people,  not  because  they  think  England  will 
resent  it,  but  because  they  like  to  see  England  put  at  a 
disadvantage.  All  the  people  and  all  the  papers  of  Paris 
speak  of  England  in  terms  of  opprobrium  and  hatred  and 
contempt.  They  say  there  is  one  consolation,  and  that 
is,  if  France  has  to  become  a  second-rate  power,  England 
will  follow  suit ;  that  she  is  falling  lower  and  lower  in  the 
scale  of  nations,  and  to  that  extent  that  she  will  resent 
no  insult,  and  is  too  happy  to  get  off  by  registering  the 
decrees  dictated  to  her  by  Prussia  and  Russia.  That  is 
what  the  French  papers  say,  not  what  I  say." 

Monday,  December  26th,  ggth  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Quite  a  little  dinner  of  ten  covers,  at  my  house  at 
No.  75,  last  evening  at  seven  o'clock.  I  could  not 
afford  to  let  Christmas  go  entirely  unrecognized.  The 
cold  was  intense,  but  I  managed  to  get  the  petit  salon 
and  the  salle  a  manger  quite  comfortable  by  the  time  the 
guests  arrived.  Here  is  the  bill  of  fare  for  the  g8th  day 
of  the  siege,  Christmas  day  : 

1.  Oyster  soup. 

2.  Sardines,  with  lemons. 

3.  Corned  beef,  with  tomatoes  and  cranberries. 

4.  Preserved  green  corn. 

5.  Roast  chicken. 

6.  Green  peas. 

7.  Salad. 

8.  Dessert.       Pumpkin    pie    and     cheese,     macaroon 
cakes,   nougat  cherries,   strawberries,  chocolates,   plums, 
and  apricots,  cafe  noir. 

18 


274     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

"  The  cold  is  not  so  intense  as  yesterday.  The  papers 
this  morning  speak  of  the  awful  sufferings  of  the  troops. 
Many  have  frozen  to  death.  I  take  it,  that  all  military 
movements  are  at  an  end  for  the  present.  The  papers 
say  that  bad  fortune  pursues  the  French  everywhere. 
We  are  now  getting  long  accounts  from  the  German  pa- 
pers of  the  fighting  on  the  Loire,  and  fearful  work  it  must 
have  been  ;  and  yet  the  Prussians  go  everywhere,  but 
they  purchase  their  successes  at  a  dear  price. 

"  There  is  now  high  talk  in  the  clubs.  This  last  ter- 
rible defeat  has  produced  intense  feeling.  Trochu  is  de- 
nounced as  a  traitor  and  an  imbecile.  They  say  he  is 
staying  out  at  one  of  the  forts,  and  doesn't  care  about 
coming  back  into  the  'city.  He  cannot  fail  more  than 
once  more  without  going  to  the  wall.  Never  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  any  army  of  half  a  million  men  cut 
such  an  ignoble  figure.  It  should  not  be  said  that  the 
soldiers  are  not  brave,  for  they  are.  It  is  the  want  of  a 
leader  that  has  paralyzed  France  for  fourteen  mortal 
weeks.  I  hope  my  despatch  bag  may  get  out  to-morrow 
morning,  and  that  I  may  get  something  in  return  ;  but 
I  am  so  often  disappointed  that  I  do  not  make  any  great 
calculations  for  the  future. 

"  Evening  (I  add  to  my  diary).  This  has  been  a  very 
cold  day,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  troops  must  have  been 
intense.  I  did  not  leave  the  legation  until  six  o'clock 
P.M.,  having  been  busy  in  getting  my  despatches  and  let- 
ters ready  for  the  bag  which  leaves  in  the  morning.  A 
great  many  people  of  all  nations  calling  ;  a  greater  num- 
ber of  poor  Germans  than  ever.  The  total  number  I 
have  been  feeding  up  to  to-night  is  fifteen  hundred  and 
forty-seven,  and  more  are  coming.  It  is  now  a  question 
of  fuel  as  well  as  food.  Wood  riots  have  commenced. 
The  large  square  across  the  street,  diagonally,  from  our 


BEFORE  AND -DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     275 

house  was  filled  with  wood  from  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 
which  has  been  sawed  up  to  burn  with  charcoal.  At 
about  one  o'clock  this  afternoon  a  crowd  of  three  thou- 
sand men  and  women  gathered  in  the  Avenue  Bugeaud, 
the  Rue  Spontini,  and  the  Rue  des  Belles-Feuilles,  right 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  they  '  went  for '  this  wood. 
'Old  Pere,'  the  maitre  d' hotel,  undertook  to  pass  through 
the  crowd  in  an  old  cab,  but  they  arrested  him  as  an 
aristocrat,  crying  out  '  On  ne  passe  pas'  Nearly  all  the 
wood  was  carried  off.  This  may  be  only  the  beginning. 
These  people  cannot  freeze  to  death  or  starve  to  death." 

On  December  26th  I  wrote  an  official  despatch  to  my 
government,  and  referred  to  the  sortie  as  having  proved 
entirely  unsuccessful.  The  loss  of  men  in  battle  was  not 
very  serious,  but  the  army  suffered  immensely  from  the 
intense  cold  weather  which  had  prevailed  for  the  few 
days  previous.  I  stated  that  I  thought  there  would  be 
no  further  military  operations  attempted  for  some  time, 
and  that  the  failure  of  the  sortie  and  the  great  suffering  of 
the  army  had  produced  a  very  bad  impression  in  Paris, 
and  that  the  clubs  had  become  extremely  violent.  I  was 
prepared  for  serious  disturbances  in  the  city.  Up  to  that 
time  I  had  received  London  papers  only  to  December 
2d  and  New  York  papers  only  to  November  iQth.  I 
was  therefore  without  intelligence  from  the  outside 
world  for  a  very  long  time,  except  some  little  items 
taken  from  German  newspapers  found  on  prisoners  who 
had  been  captured  in  the  recent  battles.  I  stated  that 
the  number  of  Germans  who  were  coming  to  me  for 
aid  was  increasing  very  fast,  and  that  the  legation 
was  thronged  with  them  every  day  from  morning  until 
night. 

On  December  27th  Count  Bismarck  wrote  me  a  com- 
munication, stating  that  General  Lord  Howden  had  ap- 


276    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

plied  to  him  for  permission  to  cross  the  German  lines, 
and  saying  that  he  could  pass  through  the  German  ad- 
vance posts  on  the  Creteil  Route  if  he  presented  him- 
self furnished  with  a  passport  in  due  form  and  a  pass 
signed  by  me,  leaving  no  doubt  as  to  his  identity.  That 
precaution,  he  said,  seemed  indispensable,  as  the  Ger- 
man good  faith  had  been  taken  advantage  of  several 
times  by  persons  who  had  left  Paris  without  the  Ger- 
man consent  by  taking  the  name  and  place  of  some 
foreigner  authorized  to  cross  their  lines. 

On  the  same  day  Bismarck  addressed  me  a  commu- 
nication in  regard  to  what  he  alleged  was  the  violation 
of  flags  of  truce  by  the  French  soldiers.  He  said  that 
evidence  had  shown  that  the  flags  of  truce  were  not 
safe  within  the  range  of  the  guns  of  the  French  sol- 
diers, and  that  they  would  be  obliged  to  give  up  the 
exchange  of  communications  with  the  enemy  unless  there 
were  serious  guarantees  against  the  recurrence  of  simi- 
lar aggressions.  He  desired  that  M.  Jules  Favre  should 
be  advised  of  certain  circumstances  which  had  occurred, 
relating  to  the  flags  of  truce,  and  stated  that,  if  the 
government  of  the  National  Defence  desired  to  con- 
tinue to  have  communication  by  flags  of  truce,  it  would 
not  hesitate  to  recognize  the  justice  of  the  Prussian  de- 
mand and  order  an  inquiry  into  the  facts,  which  had 
been  complained  of.  He  stated  further,  and  very  em- 
phatically, that  "  until  it  (the  government  of  the  Na- 
tional Defence)  sends  us  a  communication,  that  is  satis- 
factory in  this  regard,  containing  a  guarantee  for  the 
future,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  suspend  relations  which 
are  only  admissible  under  the  protection  which  the  most 
conscientious  observance  of  the  rules  of  the  interna- 
tional laws  of  war  ought  to  give  to  them." 

Tuesday  evening,  December  2  ;th,  zoothday  of  the  siege. 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     277 

"  And  who  would  have  thought  it  ?  It  is  a  cold,  gray, 
dismal  morning,  spitefully  spitting  snow.  Started  on 
foot  for  the  legation  at  eleven  o'clock — nearly  two  miles. 
The  butcher  shops  and  the  soup  houses  are  surrounded 
by  poor,  half-starved  and  half-frozen  women.  At  the  cor- 
ner of  the  Rue  de  Courcelles  and  the  Rue  de  Monceaux 
the  people  had  just  cut  down  two  large  trees  and  were 
cutting  them  up  and  carrying  them  off.  Every  little  twig 
was  carefully  picked  up.  At  a  wood-yard  in  the  Rue 
Biot  the  street  was  blocked  up  with  people  and  carts. 
I  hear  that  several  yards  were  broken  into  last  night. 
The  high  board  fences  enclosing  the  vacant  lots  on  the 
Rue  de  Chaillot,  near  the  legation,  were  all  torn  down 
and  carried  off  last  night. 

"  The  news  this  evening  is  that  the  Prussians  com- 
menced this  morning  the  bombardment  of  some  of  the 
forts,  but  we  do  not  learn  with  what  success.  The  bag 
came  in  at  one  o'clock  P.M.  bringing  my  official  despatches 
and  a  very  few  private  letters,  but  not  a  single  newspa- 
per. What  an  outrage  !  I  can  look  for  nothing  more 
for  a  week.  The  Prussians  sent  in  news  yesterday,  by 
parlementaire,  that  the  Army  of  the  North  had  been 
beaten  and  dispersed — another  '  blessing  in  disguise ' 
for  the  French." 

It  was  on  this  day  that  the  Journal  Officiel  pub- 
lished the  last  of  a  series  of  articles  entitled  "  Charles 
Lee,  Major  General  under  Washington."  These  articles 
were  very  able  and  written  by  a  French  historian.  It 
seemed  strange  to  me  that  while  Paris  was  starving  and 
freezing  to  death  the  Journal  Official  should  occupy 
itself  in  publishing  papers  of  this  character.  It  recalled 
the  action  of  the  National  Convention  of  France,  during 
the  most  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  most 
abstruse  questions  pertaining  to  the  government  were  pro- 


2;8    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

foundly  studied  and  treated  with  great  ability  by  the 
best  minds  in  France.  It  seemed  strange  to  me  that 
a  hundred  years  after  Charles  Lee  had  played  such  a 
part  in  our  Revolutionary  contest  I  should  be  shut  up, 
besieged  in  the  capital  of  our  Revolutionary  ally  and 
reading  a  disquisition  on  Lee  and  Washington,  written 
by  a  French  historian.  It  brought  vividly  to  my  mind, 
what  had  almost  faded  from  my  memory,  the  difference 
between  Lee  and  Washington  after  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth.  I  could  not  but  be  saddened  at  the  fate  which 
had  befallen  Lee,  who  was  a  brave  soldier,  but  impatient, 
violent  and  insubordinate.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
he  was  brought  to  a  court-martial  by  General  Washing- 
ton under  charges  of  disobedience  to  orders,  "  a  useless 
and  disorderly  retreat  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy  and 
disrespectful  letters  to  the  General-in-Chief."  It  was 
one  of  the  most  imposing  courts-martial  held  during  the 
whole  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  composed  of  five  gen- 
erals and  one  colonel.  Lee  made  a  brilliant  defence,  but 
was  nevertheless  convicted  on  all  the  charges.  The 
whole  conduct  of  Washington  in  this  triste  affair,  assailed 
as  he  was  most  violently  by  Lee  and  by  a  portion  of  the 
public  press,  was  the  most  admirable  of  his  life.  In 
speaking  of  this  matter,  Washington,  with  the  greatness 
of  soul  which  belonged  to  him,  said  :  "  I  do  not  believe 
that  I  have  merited  the  reproaches  which  the  general 
has  addressed  to  me.  My  reports  of  him  have  been  dic- 
tated by  a  sentiment  of  the  interests  confided  to  my  care  ; 
and  if  his  writings  contain  against  me  something  hostile 
or  injurious,  I  leave  it  to  the  impartiality  of  the  public  to 
pronounce  upon  the  value  of  his  attack."  Charles  Lee 
had  many  great  qualities.  The  latent  energies  of  his  na- 
ture, his  military  talent,  his  enthusiasm,  and  his  spirit 
were  of  grand  utility  to  the  cause  of  American  liberty. 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     279 

After  the  decision  of  the  court-martial,  Lee  fell  into  for- 
getfulness  and  died  in  obscurity  in  a  corner  of  the  vast 
continent,  to  the  deliverance  of  which  he  had  contributed 
so  much  by  his  pen  and  by  his  sword.  Handing  in  his 
resignation  as  major-general,  which  was  accepted,  Lee 
retired  to  his  estate  in  Berkeley  County,  Virginia  (called 
Prato  Rio),  where  he  lived  in  solitude.  He  was  unable 
to  forget  his  hatred  and  his  vengeance.  Age  did  not  sub- 
due the  passions  of  his  heart.  The  reputation  of  Wash- 
ington, which  gradually  increased,  inflamed  him  more 
and  more.  He  published  a  series  of  attacks  on  Wash- 
ington in  the  "  Maryland,"  a  Baltimore  newspaper,  full  of 
abuse  and  invective.  But  his  attacks  on  Washington 
only  rebounded  upon  himself.  He  lived  entirely  by  him- 
self at  his  country  seat  (Prato  Rio),  and  occupied  an  im- 
mense room,  which  he  divided  into  four  imaginary  apart- 
ments. In  one  of  the  corners  he  had  his  bed-chamber, 
in  another  his  library  ;  the  third  corner  was  devoted  to 
a  kitchen,  and  the  fourth  made  a  sort  of  a  stable  where 
he  kept  his  saddles  and  his  harnesses.  His  house  was 
crowded  with  enormous  dogs,  which  were  his  habitual 
companions.  He  occasionally  went  out  to  visit  his  neigh- 
bors, who  were  charmed  by  his  remarkable  intellectual 
qualities  and  seduced  by  the  grace  of  his  person  and  his 
open  and  sympathetic  physiognomy.  That  was,  in  brief, 
substantially  what  I  read  in  the  Journal  Officiel  on  the 
looth  day  of  the  siege. 

Entry  in  my  diary :  Wednesday  evening,  December 
28th,  loist  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Started  for  the  legation  at  half-past  eleven  this  morn- 
ing and  saw  a  mob  tearing  down  all  the  board  fences 
around  the  vacant  lots  in  the  Rue  de  Madrid.  The  at- 
tack of  the  Prussians  on  the  forts  yesterday  does  not 
seem  to  have  amounted  to  much  ;  but  to-night  there  are 


28o    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

reports  of  a  very  important  battle  on  the  Plateau  d'Avron. 
I  made  a  requisition  on  the  mayor  of  my  arrondissement 
to-day  for  some  provisions,  more  for  others  than  for  my- 
self. Antoine  got  quite  a  piece  of  pork  and  some  beans. 
M.  Jules  Favre  wrote  to  the  mayor  of  our  arrondissement 
to  do  all  he  could  for  me,  to  soften  the  rigors  of  the 
times.  For  the  last  two  weeks  I  have  been  having  for 
my  breakfast  a  piece  of  bread,  a  cup  of  coffee  and  some- 
times one  egg.  My  second  breakfast  I  have  taken  at  the 
legation,  at  one  o'clock  P.M.,  consisting  of  a  piece  of 
bread  and  a  very  small  piece  of  cheese  with  a  glass  of 
red  wine.  But  we  always  have  a  good  dinner  at  half 
past  six  ;  and  now  that  I  have  got  my  pork,  if  you  will 
come  into  my  room  at  the  legation  at  one  o'clock  P.M., 
you  will  see  me  cooking  it  for  breakfast  on  the  end  of  a 
stick  before  my  generous  wood  fire. 

"  Speaking  of  pork  reminds  me  of  early  times  in  Illi- 
nois. I  had  been  travelling  all  day  over  horrible  roads 
from  Dixon's  Ferry  to  Paw  Paw  Grove,  where  I  stopped 
for  the  night  at  a  small  tavern.  For  my  supper  the  kind 
old  landlady  brought  me  some  slices  of  very  fat  pork 
swimming  in  grease.  Seeing  a  shade  of  disappointment 
come  over  my  face,  she  comforted  me  by  saying,  '  Some 
people  like  fresh  beef  better  than  salt  pork,  but  I  can 
assure  you  that  salt  pork  is  much  more  healthy.'  I  said 
nothing  further  but  ate  my  pork  for  supper.  And  don't  I 
wish  to-night  that  I  was  sitting  around  the  humble  fire- 
side in  the  humblest  cabin  that  dots  the  prairie  in  my  old 
Congressional  District,  instead  of  being  cooped  up  in  this 
city  of  magnificent  misery  !  With  what  kindliness,  with 
what  cordiality,  and  with  what  great  heart  was  I  always 
received  by  that  noble  and  generous  people  !  In  my  nine 
campaigns,  visiting  almost  every  school  district,  I  never 
received  anything  but  kindness.  Sometimes  I  had  curi- 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     28 1 

ous  experiences,  when  I  was  obliged  to  stay  at  out-of-the- 
way  farm-houses  over  night,  where  the  people  had  but 
very  scant  and  meagre  accommodations  ;  but  I  always 
managed  before  leaving  to  get  on  the  right  side  of  the 
good  people,  and  I  generally  found  out  in  the  future  that 
the  whole  family  had  become  my  fast  friends.  The  head 
of  the  family  and  all  his  sons  voted  for  me,  and  when  the 
girls  got  married  their  husbands  were  invariably  my 
strong  supporters. 

"  When  Antoine  went  to  the  mayor  of  our  arrondisse- 
ment  this  morning,  they  were  very  polite  and  showed 
him  '  all  the  stock  on  hand.'  They  told  him  they  had 
enough  for  three  months  yet, — '  think  of  that,  Master 
Brooke!'" 

Thursday  evening,  December  2Qth,  io2d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"  This  has  been  a  cold,  clear,  but  dull  and  most  un- 
interesting day.  The  French  have  been  driven  from 
the  Plateau  d'Avron.  This  was  a  most  important  po- 
sition, which  they  took  nearly  four  weeks  ago,  and  one 
would  have  supposed  that  they  would  have  prepared  to 
have  held  it  against  all  comers.  All  that  was  done,  how- 
ever, was  to  carry  up  some  heavy  guns  to  the  plateau  ; 
but  in  all  this  time  they  never  '  struck  a  lick '  in  the 
way  of  putting  up  defences.  The  consequence  is  that 
the  Prussians,  having  got  up  their  large  pieces  in  these 
days,  drove  the  French  off.  The  Parisians  are  'low 
down '  to-day,  and  I  think  Trochu  is  going  down.  The 
papers  begin  to  speak  out  a  little.  But  he  is  as  hard 
to  get  rid  of  as  some  of  the  officers  we  had  during  the 
time  of  the  Rebellion." 

Friday  evening,  December  3Oth,  iO3d  day  of  the 
siege. 

"Called  to  see  my  colleague,  Dr.  Kern,  the  Swiss  Min- 


282     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

ister-Resident,  this  morning,  and,  as  he  is  charged  with 
the  protection  of  the  Badois  and  the  Bavarians,  we  have 
been  brought  much  together,  and  we  agree  very  well  in  all 
things.  He  says  he  now  lives  on  horse  meat  and  maca- 
roni, and  when  I  said  to  him  that  he  would  not  be  likely 
to  starve  he  answered,  '  neigh'  Rather  dull  at  the  lega- 
tion to-day.  I  have  made  new  arrangements  for  the  poor 
Germans.  They  became  too  numerous,  and  so  I  hired  a 
room  on  the  street,  directly  under  us,  in  which  to  receive 
and  care  for  them.  I  put  in  a  stove  to  warm  it,  and  I  will 
arrange  some  seats  so  that  they  can  sit  down  and  warm 
themselves  when  they  come.  I  have  arranged  also  that 
each  woman  shall  have  a  glass  of  hot  sangaree.  The  poor 
creatures  suffer  so  much  from  the  intense  cold.  There  is 
no  news  of  any  kind  to-day.  Some  think  the  Prussians 
will  have  one  of  the  forts  soon  and  that  the  city  will  be 
bombarded.  Trochu  is  universally  denounced,  and  the 
government  seems  to  hesitate.  They  are  bawling  louder 
and  louder  at  the  clubs  every  night.  The  situation  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  critical.  Wood  is  becoming 
scarcer.  I  paid,  day  before  yesterday,  $40  for  less  than 
a  cord.  I  feel  that  I  am  becoming  utterly  demoralized ; 
I  am  unfitted  for  anything.  This  siege  life  is  becoming 
unbearable.  I  have  no  disposition  to  read  anything.  I 
merely  skim  the  trashy  French  newspapers.  I  get  no 
American  or  English  papers  any  more.  I  am  too  lazy  to 
do  any  work,  and  it  is  an  immense  effort  to  write  a  de- 
spatch once  a  week.  It  is  at  night  that  I  attempt  to  jot 
down  what  has  taken  place  during  the  day.  I  have  full 
time  to  think  of  bygone  days  and  to  reflect  upon  the  in- 
cidents of  a  life  now,  alas,  not  a  short  one.  Had  I  more 
energy  I  should  write  more,  in  the  hope  that  it  might 
eventually  become  interesting  reading  for  some  one. 
"  I  had  many  adventures  in  my  first  canvass  for  Con- 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     283 

gress  in  the  campaign  of  1852,  and  it  was  a  very  interest- 
ing campaign,  particularly  to  the  hero  of  it.  I  had  never 
run  for  office  or  sought  office.  I  was  not  at  the  conven- 
tion which  nominated  me,  but  was  at  Mineral  Point, 
Wisconsin,  at  the  bedside  of  a  sick  brother.  I  never 
knew  fully  why  I  was  nominated.  I  was  scarcely  known 
at  all  in  four  of  the  counties  of  the  district,  and  not  very 
well  known  in  any  of  the  counties  except  in  my  own 
county,  Jo  Daviess.  As  the  district  was  considered  al- 
most entirely  Democratic,  I  suppose  they  thought  I 
might  as  well  be  sacrificed  as  any  body.  I  accepted  the 
nomination  as  the  gift  of  a  severe  fate,  and  determined  to 
make  the  best  of  the  possibilities,  with  a  reasonable  hope 
within  myself  of  success  ;  but  I  had  the  great  disadvan- 
tage of  not  being  able  to  make  anybody  else  share  that 
hope.  The  district  was  regarded  as  Democratic  by  fif- 
teen hundred  majority.  My  competitor,  Mr.  Campbell, 
was  already  in  Congress  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
men  ever  in  the  State,  the  idol  of  his  party  and  his  hosts 
•of  friends.  I  made  a  canvass  of  some  ten  weeks,  almost 
single-handed  and  alone,  and  now,  after  a  lapse  of 
eighteen  years,  and  looking  back  to-day,  I  am  surprised 
at  my  success.  I  was  perhaps  not  wanting  in  energy  or 
activity.  '  No  dangers  daunted  and  no  labors  tired.'  I 
made  one,  and  very  often  two  speeches,  each  day.  There 
were  but  a  few  miles  of  railroad  in  the  whole  district 
stretching  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi  River. 
I  travelled  in  buggies,  in  stage-coaches,  on  horseback 
and  on  foot,  in  farmer's  wagons  ;  any  way  to  get  along 
and  meet  my  appointments.  I  visited  the  leading  men 
at  their  homes,  talked  with  their  wives  and  caressed  their 
children,  went  to  church  on  the  Sabbath  and  contributed 
to  the  support  of  Sunday  schools.  I  attended  all  the 
parties  and  danced  with  the  young  ladies,  and  made  them 


284    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

promise  to  have  their  sweethearts  vote  for  me.  I  at- 
tended all  the  county  fairs,  and  made  speeches,  praising 
very  justly  the  magnificent  exhibits,  and  the  more  beauti- 
ful display  of  wives  and  daughters.  I  went  through  the 
floral  halls  and  '  toted  '  the  young  ones  in  my  arms, 
drank  cider  and  ate  cakes  at  the  booths  on  the  outside  of 
the  ground.  And  the  great  day  of  trial  finally  came.  It 
was  on  the  2d  of  November,  1852,  and  a  bright  beautiful 
day.  On  horseback  I  went  everywhere  that  day  looking 
after  the  voters,  and  when  night  came  my  green  blanket 
coat  was  completely  covered  with  mud.  When  the  polls 
closed  I  considered  my  duty  accomplished,  and  I  have 
often  wondered  at  the  utter  indifference  that  came  over 
me.  I  seemed  to  have  lost  my  interest  in  the  result. 
Returning  to  my  little,  unpretending  house,  I  disguised 
myself  by  washing,  changing  my  clothes  and  putting  on 
a  clean  shirt.  After  supper  I  went  over  the  river  to  pay 
an  evening  visit.  I  didn't  get  any  returns  that  night, 
either  from  West  or  East  Galena,  and  never  in  my  whole 
life  did  I  sleep  sounder  than  I  did  that  night  and  up  to 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning.  After  breakfast  (visions 
of  beefsteak,  baked  potatoes,  chickens,  waffles  and  buck- 
wheat cakes,  on  the  io3d  day  of  the  siege)  I  walked  lei- 
surely over  the  lower  bridge  into  town.  Few  returns  were 
received — favorable  so  far  as  they  went.  Others  came 
in  during  the  day,  favorable  but  not  decisive  ;  Democrats 
were  getting  a  little  shaky,  but  still  confident.  Whigs 
pricked  up  their  ears  and  began  to  be  hopeful.  Mr. 
Houghton,  the  old  editor  of  the  Galena  Gazette,  claimed 
my  election  as  probable.  It  took  longer  then  to  get 
returns  than  now.  The  day  after  the  election  the  Demo- 
crats were  encouraged.  McHenry  County  had  gone 
largely  for  Campbell,  but  Lake  was  not  heard  from. 
But  all  the  time  I  was  as  calm  as  a  summer's  morning. 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     285 

It  then  all  depended  upon  Lake  County.  In  the  after- 
noon I  went  into  the  telegraph  office,  which  was  imme- 
diately over  my  law  office,  but  nothing  for  me  from  Lake  ; 
but  a  despatch  for  the  other  side.  The  operator,  who 
was  a  good  friend  of  mine  and  a  good  Whig,  said 
Mr.  •  had  a  despatch  from  Waukegan,  '  but  you 

know  I  can't  tell  you  what  it  is,  though  I  can  tell  you 
that  you  are  elected  to  Congress.'  And  it  was  even  so, 
for  the  official  returns  finally  figured  up  (I  speak  from 
memory  of  the  poll  eighteen  years  gone  by) : 

Campbell,  Democrat.  Washburne,  Whig. 

Jo  Daviess  County,      68  majority.  Carroll  County,   138  majority. 

McHenry  "         293         "  Ogle  "        236 

Stephenson  107  Winnebago "        252 

Lake  "        114 

468  Boone  "          14         " 


754 
.468 


My  official  majority 286 

"  I  had  just  got  to  this  point  at  half-past  ten  o'clock, 
and  was  about  to  '  turn  in,'  when  a  messenger  from 
General  Trochu  was  announced.  He  brought  me  my 
bag,  and  it  seems  pretty  well  stuffed — lots  of  newspapers, 
probably — but  I  can't  get  into  it  for  I  have  no  key.  I 
have,  therefore,  had  to  send  for  Antoine  to  come  with 
his  key  and  open  it,  but  he  can't  get  here  until  12.30.  I 
hope  for  good  news." 

Saturday  evening,  December  3ist,  iO4th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"Antoine  came  a  little  after  midnight  and  opened  the 
bag — a  feast  of  letters  and  papers.  I  read  until  three 
o'clock  this  morning.  I  remained  in  my  room  to-day 
until  2  P.M.  devouring  the  contents  of  the  leathern  pouch. 


286    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

Then  went  to  the  legation.  At  5.30  P.M.  went  to  see  M. 
Jules  Favre,  and  then  dined  with  a  friend.  So  closed 
the  last  day  of  a  sad  and  eventful  year.  A  great  deal 
of  firing  by  the  Prussians.  I  have  received  a  file  of  the 
London  Times  from  the  3d  to  the  22d  of  the  month,  and 
full  files  of  the  New  York  Tribune  and  New  York  Times 
from  November  2ist  to  December  loth. 

"  A  correspondent  of  a  London  paper,  who  sends  his 
letters  out  by  balloon,  says,  in  respect  to  this  matter  :  '  Mr. 
Washburne  has  the  English  papers  up  to  the  22d,  but  he 
keeps  grim  guard  over  them  and  allows  no  one  to  have  a 
glimpse  at  them.  He  passes  his  existence,  however, 
staving  off  insidious  questions.  His  very  looks  are 
commented  on.'  '  We  saw  him  to-day,'  says  an  evening 
paper.  '  He  smiled.  Good  sign.  Our  victory  must  be 
overwhelming  if  John  Bull  is  obliged  to  confess  it.' 
Another  newspaper  asks  him  whether,  considering  the 
circumstances,  it  isn't  deemed  a  duty  to  violate  his 
promise  to  Count  Bismarck  and  hand  over  his  news- 
papers to  the  government.  '  In  that  way,'  it  says,  '  the 
debt  which  America  owes  to  France  for  aiding  her  in  the 
Revolution  will  be  repaid.  We  gave  you  La  Fayette 
and  Rochambeau,  in  return  for  which  we  only  ask  for 
one  copy  of  an  English  paper.' " 

Paris,  January  i,  1871,  iO5th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  What  a  New  Year's  day  !  With  sadness  I  bid  adieu 
to  the  fatal  1870,  and  with  sadness  I  welcome  the  new 
year,  1871.  How  gloomy  and  triste  is  the  day.  A  few 
callers  only,  among  the  number  M.  Picard,  the  Minister 
of  Finance,  who  made  quite  a  long  call  and  seemed  to  be 
in  very  good  spirits.  It  is  rather  a  heavy  burden  for  me 
to  carry  around  all  the  news  from  the  outside  which  there 
is  in  Paris.  I  only  made  three  calls  to-day  and  dined  at 
Mr.  Moulton's,  and  a  good  dinner  it  was  for  the  io5th 


BEFORE  AND  DURING    THE  BOMBARDMENT.     287 

day  of  the  siege.  Up  to  this  time  there  has  been  no 
deficiency  in  certain  articles,  and  no  change  in  the  price 
of  coffee,  chocolate,  wine,  liqueurs  and  tea.  The  weather 
has  been  so  cold  for  some  time  that  several  hundred 
soldiers  have  either  been  disabled  or  have  perished  by 
the  cold.  The  boulevards,  dimly  lighted,  were  thronged 
with  people  who  were  shivering  with  the  cold. 

"The  Journal  Officiel  of  New  Year's  day  has  a  long 
and  lugubrious  editorial  in  respect  to  the  position. 
It  says  that  since  the  i4th  of  December  the  government 
hasn't  received  any  official  news,  and  it  was  only  by  some 
German  newspapers,  which  had  come  into  Paris  through 
the  prisoners,  that  they  had  obtained  any  information 
whatever,  which  was  very  incomplete  and  quite  old.  It 
confessed  that  the  situation  was  full  of  anxiety,  but 
claimed  that  confidence  was  not  diminished.  It  then 
spoke  of  the  rumors  which  were  prevailing,  which  were 
contrary  to  all  probability.  It  stated  that  a  young  soldier 
had  told  of  the  arrival  at  Creil  of  a  body  of  twenty-four 
thousand  French  ;  and  that  the  rumor  of  such  good 
fortune  had  illuminated  the  city  and  had  been  accepted 
as  a  certainty.  Inquiry  having  been  made,  this  recital 
proved  to  be  a  falsehood.  Its  author  was  handed  over 
to  that  justice  which  would  seek  with  care  the  motives 
which  had  drawn  this  man  into  his  false  action.  In 
spite  of  the  unfavorable  look  of  things,  the  article  goes 
on  to  say,  it  was  certain  that  the  government  opposed 
to  the  enemy  a  resolution  which  astonished  and  discon- 
certed him  ;  and  closing,  says  that  the  French  forces  are 
augmented  incessantly  by  recruitings,  which  are  never 
suspended,  while  those  of  the  Prussians  diminish  and  be- 
come enfeebled.  For  several  days  the  Journal  Officiel 
has  been  publishing  studies  of  Condorcet  and  of  Vauban, 
— interesting  reading  in  these  dismal  days." 


288     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

Monday  evening,  January  2d,  io6th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  can  record  nothing  of  the  least  interest  to-night. 
This  day  has  been  cold  and  dreary  to  the  last  degree.  I 
have  been  very  busy  in  getting  my  despatches  and  letters 
ready  for  the  bag  that  leaves  in  the  morning.  I  have 
written  one  despatch  to  the  State  department  and  prob- 
ably half  a  dozen  letters  to  Bismarck.  I  have  much 
more  to  do  now,  as  the  acting  Prussian  Minister  and  as 
Minister  of  the  United  States.  Not  so  much  firing  on 
the  forts  to-day  as  for  several  days  before.  Some  say 
that  a  great  deal  of  damage  has  been  done,  while  others 
claim  that  there  has  been  but  little." 

Tuesday  evening,  January  3d,  io7th  day  of  the  siege. 

"  Tremendous  firing  all  last  night.  Old  Pere,  the 
maitre  d' hotel,  says  the  house,  No.  75,  trembled  and  the 
windows  shook  so  much  that  none  of  them  could  sleep  all 
night.  I  don't  hear  of  any  results  to-day,  however.  A 
messenger  went  out  with  the  bag  this  morning  and  deliv- 
ered it  to  the  Prussian  outposts  at  the  bridge  of  Sevres. 
He  brought  back  two  letters  from  Bismarck  to  me.  Noth- 
ing going  on  ;  the  cold  still  continues.  Talk  of  another 
sortie.  Hunger  pinches  ;  discontent  increases,  but  noth- 
ing is  said  about  surrendering.  The  people  think  there 
ought  to  be  something  more  accomplished  by  the  mili- 
tary, and  agree  with  a  friend  of  mine  at  home,  during  the 
civil  war,  who  was  continually  insisting  that  '  somebody 
ought  to  be  hurt.' ' 

Wednesday  evening,  January  4th,  io8th  day  of  the 
siege. 

"Nil.  It  is  cold  still,  and  more  dreary  than  ever.  I 
have  been  busy,  however,  with  the  current  matters  at  the 
legation  and  receiving  calls.  More  people  than  ever 
seem  to  be  coming  to  the  legation.  Indeed,  there  are  so 
many  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  do  any  work  there. 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     289 

We  seem  to  be  the  great  centre,  as  the  only  news  that 
comes  to  Paris  comes  to  me,  or  through  me  ;  but  as  I  can 
make  no  use  of  it  I  am  tired  receiving  it.  The  newspa- 
pers all  like  to  talk.  One  says  it  has  news  that  comes 
through  me.  Another  says,  I  have  got  news,  but,  as  it 
is  favorable  to  the  French  I  won't  let  it  out.'  And  then 
they  made  an  attempt  yesterday  to  bribe  old  Pere. 
They  offered  him  a  thousand  francs  for  the  latest  Lon- 
don paper,  but  he  stood  firm.  I  have  concluded  that  it 
is  too  much  for  me  to  have  the  news  for  two  millions  of 
people,  and  I  don't  care  to  bear  the  burden  ;  besides,  it 
may  get  me  into  trouble.  I  have  therefore  written  Bis- 
marck that  I  will  have  no  more  London  newspapers  sent 
to  me.  I  would  rather  be  without  them  than  to  be 
bothered  as  I  am.  I  will  have  the  home  papers,  how- 
ever." 

Thursday  evening,  January  5th,  lOQth  day  of  the  siege, 
and  ist  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  '  And  now  the  Freeport  Brass  Band  struck  up  a  na- 
tional air,'  as  the  editor  of  the  Freeport  Democrat  said 
when  he  gave  an  account  of  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration 
in  that  town.  I  think  the  Prussians  '  struck  up  a  national 
air '  with  Krupp  guns  last  night.  They  commenced  the 
bombardment  of  the  forts  en  regie,  particularly  Issy, 
Montrouge,  Bicetre  and  Ivry.  The  cannon  were  thun- 
dering when  I  awoke  at  eight  o'clock  this  morning.  At 
2  P.M.  I  walked  down  to  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  to 
say  that  the  firing  was  then  terrific  would  give  no  ade- 
quate idea  of  it.  I  supposed,  however,  that  it  was  only 
a  bombardment  of  the  forts,  and  I  had  no  idea  that  the 
shells  were  coming  into  the  city.  G —  -  and  I  went 
over  to  the  Latin  Quarter,  Rue  Gay-Lussac,  to  dine  with 
an  English  gentleman,  a  professor  in  one  of  the  institu- 
tions in  Paris.  As  I  had  got  some  news  for  him  from  his 


290 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 


children  in  England,  he  had  invited  us  to  dine  with  him. 
Among  the  guests  were  Mr.  Duruy,  who  was  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction  when  I  came  to  Paris  and  one  of 
the  most  charming  men  I  ever  met  in  official  circles. 
Though  over  sixty  years  old,  he  serves  in  the  National 
Guard,  and  he  also  has  three  sons  in  the  military  service. 
Soon  after  our  arrival  at  our  host's,  we  were  informed 
that  two  of  the  enemy's  shells  had  burst  in  the  neighbor- 
hood that  afternoon,  and  that  one  of  them  had  set  a 
house  on  fire  only  a  square  away.  That  didn't  disturb 
us,  however,  as  we  had  a  good  dinner — a  piece  of  roast 
beef  and  a  chicken.  The  Frenchmen  declared  that  if 
Bismarck  should  see  such  a  dinner  in  Paris  he  would  die 
of  despair.  When  at  dinner,  two  shells  burst  quite  near, 
and  when  we  came  out  of  the  house  to  go  home  the 
coachman  said  the  shells  had  been  flying  around  pretty 
lively.  They  did  no  harm,  however,  and  the  people 
didn't  seem  to  be  at  all  alarmed. 

"  A  case  of  the  terrible  suffering  of  a  German  family 
living  in  the  Avenue  d'ltalie  was  brought  to  my  notice 
yesterday.  They  were  literally  dying  of  cold  and  hunger. 
I  immediately  sent  Antoine  with  a  little  wood,  wine, 
coffee,  sugar,  confitures,  etc.  He  found  a  family  of  seven 
persons  cooped  up  in  a  little  attic  about  ten  feet  square, 
in  the  last  stage  of  misery — no  fire  and  no  food.  There 
was  a  little  boy,  some  seven  years  old,  lying  on  a  pallet  of 
straw,  so  far  gone  as  to  be  unable  to  raise  his  head  or  to 
talk.  I  sent  Antoine  again  to-day  to  the  family  with  a 
can  of  Portland  sugar-corn  and  a  very  small  piece  of 
pork  (one-half  of  my  own  stock)  and  two  herrings  (also 
one-half  of  my  own  stock),  and  also  a  little  money  to  buy 
bread.  I  told  Antoine  to  take  the  poor  little  fellow  to 
my  own  house  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  maltre  d' hotel 
and  his  wife,  and  when  he  proposed  it  to  him,  he  didn't 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     291 

want  to  go,  but  preferred  to  stay  with  his  mother.  When 
G—  -  and  I  went  to  Mr.  Buffer's  to  stay,  we  had  no 
idea  of  the  siege  lasting  more  than  four  or  five  weeks  ; 
but  at  his  earnest  request  we  have  stayed  on  and  on. 
After  New  Year's  I  thought  it  better  to  leave  and  to  go 
into  the  apartment  of  a  friend,  who  had  left  his  cook, 
and  where  there  was  everything  ready  for  housekeeping. 
My  own  house  was  too  much  exposed  to  be  occupied,  so 
that  we  are  now  to  be  duly  installed  in  our  new  residence, 
which  is  very  comfortable,  but  our  living  has  been  re- 
duced to  first  principles." 

January  6th,  Friday  evening,  noth  day  of  the  siege, 
and  2d  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  The  bombardment  of  the  forts  seems  to  have  stopped 
in  a  great  measure  to-day,  but  occasionally  a  great  many 
shells  have  been  thrown  into  the  city,  with  what  results  I 
do  not  know.  It  seems  very  strange  that  the  firing  on  the 
forts  has  ceased,  and  nobody  can  tell  why.  The  city  is 
very  calm  under  the  circumstances,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
tell  what  is  coming.  Mr.  Read,  United  States  Consul, 
went  out  yesterday  under  the  plea  that  his  health  had 
become  very  bad.  I  sent  one  of  my  secretaries  out  with 
him,  who  passed  him  into  the  Prussian  lines  by  the  bridge 
of  Sevres.  I  bought  a  peck  of  potatoes  to-day  for  $4.00, 
and  was  glad  to  get  them  at  that  price.  I  procured  from 
the  mairie  to-day  some  rice,  some  dried  peas,  some  cod- 
fish and  herring,  and  some  Dutch  cheese.  With  what 
I  have  already  laid  in  I  can  keep  the  wolf  from  the 
door  for  a  long  time.  Old  Pere  (maitre  c£  hotel}  informs 
me  that  all  of  those  beautiful  shade  trees  in  the  Avenue 
Bugeaud  have  been  cut  down,  and,  what  is  worse,  that 
the  magnificent  tree  so  close  by  our  house,  and  which 
has  been  such  an  ornament,  has  been  cut  down  also. 
Quelle  horreur  !  the  cutting  down  of  a  shade  tree  is  the 


292     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

next  thing  to  the  commission  of  murder.  I  would  now 
be  glad  to  leave  this  town,  taking  a  steamboat  at  the 
first  wood  yard.  The  weather  has  moderated  very  much, 
which  will  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  Have 
not  been  away  from  the  legation  except  to  walk  up  to 
the  American  ambulance  at  night." 

Saturday  evening,  January  yth,  mth  day  of  the  siege, 
3d  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"It  was  a  mistake  to  say  that  the  Prussians  had  mod- 
erated their  firing  yesterday.  It  was  furious  and  severe, 
but  the  wind  having  changed  we  did  not  hear  it.  To-day 
it  has  been  very  heavy  all  day.  A  good  many  shells  have 
fallen  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  quite  a  number 
of  people  have  been  killed  and  wounded.  The  great 
mass  of  the  population  has  not  been  very  much  moved, 
but  there  is  extreme  violence  in  the  clubs.  A  revolu- 
tionary hand-bill  was  placarded  yesterday,  but  it  failed  to 
effect  anything.  It  was  torn  down  as  fast  as  put  up, 
even  in  the  most  turbulent  quarters ;  but  I  think  the  fuss 
will  drive  the  government  to  make  another  sortie  or 
another  feint.  The  weather  has  been  much  milder  to- 
day, and  thawing  considerably.  At  four  o'clock  I  walked 
down  to  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  and  made  a  call  on  M. 
Picard.  A  less  number  of  people  at  the  legation  than 
for  many  days." 

Sunday,  5  P.M.,  January  8th,  i  I2th  day  of  the  siege,  4th 
day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  One  more  day,  and  we  don't  seem  to  be  any  nearer 
the  end,  unless  this  bombardment  shall  effect  something. 
It  is  so  hard  to  get  at  the  real  truth  as  to  what  the  Prus- 
sians have  actually  accomplished  since  they  commenced 
bombarding  the  forts  of  the  East,  eleven  days  ago. 
They  certainly  have  not  yet  got  a  fort.  The  bombard- 
ment of  the  forts  of  the  West  has  now  continued  four 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     293 

days  without  intermission  and  with  all  the  violence  and 
power  that  could  be  brought  to  bear,  and  it  is  plain  that 
no  particular  harm  has  yet  been  done.  How  long  this 
thing  can  continue  I  cannot  judge,  but  one  thing  is  cer- 
tain, that  the  Prussians  have  fired  away  an  immense 
amount  of  material.  The  carelessness  and  nonchalance 
of  the  Parisians  in  all  this  business  is  wonderful.  No 
sooner  does  a  shell  fall  than  all  the  people  run  into  that 
quarter  to  see  what  harm  it  has  done,  and  if  it  has  not 
exploded  they  pick  it  up  and  carry  it  off.  They  have 
carried  this  thing  so  far  that  the  government  has  had  to 
forbid  it.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  now  make  excursions 
to  the  Point  du  Jour  to  see  the  shells  fall.  Twenty-four 
Prussian  shells  fell  yesterday  in  precisely  the  same  spot, 
and  not  the  least  harm  was  done. 

"  The  change  of  the  weather  since  last  Sunday  has 
done  wonders  in  ameliorating  the  sufferings  of  the  poor. 
The  mayors  are  rationing  the  provisions  to  the  poor,  but 
when  one  has  to  buy  outside,  enormous  prices  have  to 
be  paid.  Since  I  have  got  to  housekeeping  on  my  own 
hook,  I  have  made  provision  against  absolute  want,  and 
I  shall  live  well  enough.  I  have  now  many  American 
things  like  succotash,  green  corn,  tomatoes,  cranberry 
sauce,  and  oysters,  and  then  I  have  a  little  pork  and  a 
little  ham,  codfish,  herring,  nice  dried  peas,  rice,  choco- 
late. Potatoes  ?  Aye,  there's  the  rub  !  but  I  have  just 
bought  half  a  bushel  for  which  I  paid  $9.00.  I  can  see 
my  way  clear  till  March  1st.  A  good  friend  sends  me 
milk  enough  for  our  coffee,  therefore  let  there  be  no 
worrying  on  my  own  account.  Besides  we  are  in  the 
way  of  having  an  ample  supply  of  fuel,  thanks  to  the  in- 
tercession of  M.  Favre. 

"  No  bag  yet,  and  I  don't  see  why  Bismarck  detains  it, 
unless  he  thinks  it  could  contain  bad  news  for  the  Prus- 


294    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

sians  which  might  come  out  in  some  way.  The  French 
have  great  hopes  that  General  Chanzy  has  done  some- 
thing for  them  outside,  but  such  hopes  will  prove  vain." 

Monday  evening,  January  9th,  H3th  day  of  the  siege, 
5th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  'Des  canons,  toujours  des  canons'  The  bombardment 
was  furious  all  last  night  and  all  to-day.  The  shells  have 
come  into  the  Latin  quarter  thick  and  fast,  and  many 
people  have  been  killed  and  wounded.  Among  the  latter 
is  a  young  American  by  the  name  of  Swager,  from  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky.  He  was  sitting  in  his  room  in  the 
Latin  quarter  last  night  when  a  shell  came  in  and  struck 
his  foot.  It  fractured  it  to  such  an  extent  that  he  had  to 
have  his  leg  amputated.  He  was  taken  to  our  American 
ambulance,  where  the  operation  was  performed  by  Drs. 
Swinburne  and  Johnston. 

"  It  has  been  snowing  a  little  all  day,  but  I  have  been 
very  busy  in  my  room  writing  despatches  and  letters.  A 
short  time  before  my  bag  was  ready  to  be  closed,  I  got 
word  from  the  military  headquarters  that  they  could  not 
send  it  out  to-morrow  morning  on  account  of  military 
reasons.  It  may  now  be  detained  a  whole  week.  The 
French  have  some  news  this  morning,  the  first  from  the 
outside  government  for  three  weeks.  If  to  be  credited, 
it  is  rather  good.  Baked  pork  and  beans  for  dinner  to- 
day. I  showed  the  cook  how  to  prepare  the  dish  in 
Yankee  fashion." 

On  this  day  I  wrote  a  long  despatch  to  my  govern- 
ment describing  the  existing  situation.  I  said  it  had 
been  then  nearly  five  days  since  the  Prussian  batteries 
had  opened  their  fire  on  the  forts.  The  cannonading  of 
some  of  them  had  been  terrific,  but  the  military  reports, 
while  acknowledging  the  extreme  violence  of  the  fire,  did 


GERMAN     SHELLS    FALLING     IN     THE    LATIN     QUARTER. 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     295 

not  confess  to  any  material  damage.  Whatever  injury 
might  have  been,  in  reality,  inflicted  upon  any  of  the 
forts,  one  thing  was  certain,  none  had  yet  been  taken 
or  even  silenced,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  them 
had  replied  with  great  spirit,  and,  it  was  claimed,  with 
considerable  effect.  But  what  was  more  serious  was  the 
bombardment  of  the  city.  A  great  many  shells  had 
fallen  in  the  city,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  particu- 
larly in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Luxembourg  and  the 
Pantheon.  Some  twenty  or  thirty  people  had  been  killed 
and  wounded,  including  men,  women  and  children,  but 
no  very  great  damage  had  been  done  to  the  buildings. 
I  said  that  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  people  of  Paris 
were  greatly  surprised  to  find  that  the  enemy  could  send 
a  shell  into  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  for  it  had  always 
been  contended  that  such  a  thing  was  impossible,  with- 
out the  possession  of  one  of  the  French  forts.  I  felt  con- 
fident that  my  residence  could  then  be  reached  by  the 
Prussian  batteries,  but  doubted  whether  the  legation  was 
within  the  range  of  any  battery  yet  opened.  There  had 
been  much  discontent  in  the  city  during  the  previous 
week.  It  had  not,  however,  taken  the  direction  of  a  cry 
for  peace  or  surrender,  but  resulted  in  a  sharp  arraign- 
ment of  the  government  for  a  failure  to  perform  its  whole 
duty.  On  the  previous  Thursday  an  address  to  the 
people  of  Paris,  signed  by  a  large  number  of  persons  call- 
ing themselves  "  Delegates  of  the  twenty  arrondissements 
of  Paris,"  was  placarded  in  a  large  red  handbill.  Al- 
though many  people  said  that  the  arraignment  was  partly 
just,  yet  but  few  were  willing  to  accept  the  remedy  pro- 
posed, by  replacing  the  government  of  the  National  De- 
fence by  the  Revolutionary  Commune.  They  had  evi- 
dently adopted  Mr.  Lincoln's  theory,  that  it  was  no  time 
to  swap  horses  while  swimming  a  river.  The  conse- 


296     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

quence  was  that  the  handbills  were  torn  down  as  fast  as 
they  were  put  up,  even  in  the  most  turbulent  parts  of  the 
city.  Trochu  had  made  that  trouble  the  occasion  of 
issuing  another  bombastic  proclamation,  in  which  he  de- 
clared "  that  the  government  of  Paris  would  not  capitu- 
late." 

The  bombardment  had  been  the  subject  of  interest  and 
conversation  during  the  previous  week.  At  the  time  I 
wrote,  it  was  extremely  violent.  Many  people  were  re- 
ported to  have  been  killed.  There  was  apparently  not 
the  alarm  felt  that  one  might  have  supposed  amid  all  the 
danger.  So  far  the  people  had  accepted  it  with  a  calm 
and  nonchalance  almost  amounting  to  recklessness.  The 
cold  had  moderated  and  the  sufferings  of  the  people  in 
that  respect  had  been  very  sensibly  ameliorated.  The 
number  of  deaths  for  the  previous  week  had  been  three 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty,  which  was  quite  an  in- 
crease over  the  number  of  the  week  before.  The  num- 
ber of  Germans  seeking  aid  from  me  was  still  increasing. 
Nobody  could  have  supposed  there  were  so  many  left  in 
Paris  when  the  gates  of  the  city  were  shut.  Cases  of 
terrible  suffering  were  brought  to  my  notice  every  day. 
The  number  of  poor  Germans  then  being  assisted  by 
me  was  two  thousand  and  thirty-nine,  an  increase  of 
two  hundred  and  eighty-six  in  one  week. 

Tuesday  evening,  January  loth,  ii4th  day  of  the  siege, 
6th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  The  bombardment  as  usual,  and  particularly  on  Fort 
Issy.  At  four  o'clock  went  to  a  meeting  of  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  at  Dr.  Kern's,  the  Swiss  Minister-Resident, 
to  consider  the  question  of  the  bombardment.  There 
were  present  many  representatives  of  the  smaller  powers 
of  Europe  and  several  consuls.  After  a  free  interchange 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     297 

of  opinion,  Dr.  Kern,  Baron  Zuylen  and  myself  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  draw  up  a  paper  to  Bismarck  on 
the  subject  of  the  bombardment.  We  were  to  have  an- 
other meeting  on  Thursday.  When  I  returned  to  my 
house,  No.  44  Avenue  Josephine,  I  found  that  the  bag 
had  come  in,  bringing  me  London  papers  of  the  3Oth  and 
New  York  dates  to  the  1 7th  ult.  I  have  been  deeply 
absorbed  all  the  evening,  though  I  do  not  find  as  much 
news  as  I  expected.  I  have  no  less  than  nine  letters 
from  Bismarck  on  various  subjects." 

Wednesday  evening,  January  nth,  ii5th  day  of  the 
siege,  7th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  Busy  in  reading  the  newspapers  until  two  o'clock, 
P.M.,  then  went  down  town,  and  at  six  o'clock  called  on  M. 
Jules  Favre  at  the  Foreign  Office.  He  thinks  the  forts 
will  hold  out,  and  that  the  bombardment  will  not  hurry 
the  surrender.  He  spoke  with  much  emotion  of  the  bar- 
barism, as  he  called  it,  of  the  bombardment  without  any 
notice  whatever.  He  said  he  had  just  attended  the 
funeral  of  six  little  children  who  had  been  killed  by  a 
bomb.  Owing  to  the  direction  of  the  wind,  or  some  other 
cause,  we  have  heard  but  little  firing  to-day.  I  heard  a 
few  distant  and  random  guns,  as  I  wrote  at  ten  o'clock 
this  evening." 

Thursday  evening,  January  12,  n6th  day  of  the  siege, 
8th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  Engaged  nearly  all  day  on  matters  connected  with 
the  Diplomatic  Corps.  This  evening  a  full  meeting  of 
the  Corps  at  Dr.  Kern's,  and  the  form  of  a  letter  to 
Count  Bismarck  was  agreed  upon.  I  have  been  very 
"  agueish "  all  day — headache,  cold  feet,  pains  all  over 
me.  Dr.  Johnston  came  to  dine  with  me.  Tomato  and 
rice  soup,  sardines,  baked  pork  and  beans,  succotash,  etc., 
very  good  for  a  siege  dinner.  From  what  I  can  learn,  I 


298     BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

think  the  bombardment  is  slackening  a  little  to-day,  but 
it  is  possibly  only  'getting  off  to  get  on  better.'  Much 
indignation  is  expressed  at  the  bombardment  of  the  hos- 
pitals, ambulances,  and  monuments  of  art,  and  if  the  city 
be  not  taken  by  bombardment  or  assault,  the  people  will 
only  hold  out  longer  and  suffer  more.  The  weather  has 
become  colder  within  the  last  two  or  three  days.  We 
have  had  snow  enough  to  just  whiten  the  ground.  It 
looks  like  young  winter  to-day.  They  are  now  cutting 
down  the  big  trees  in  the  great  avenues  of  the  city,  in 
the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Avenue  Montaigne.  It 
made  me  sick  to  pass  through  the  Avenue  Bugeaud,  that 
splendid  avenue,  with  its  magnificent  shade  trees,  add- 
ing so  much  to  the  beauty  of  our  neighborhood.  How 
pleasant  of  a  June  morning  to  be  protected  by  their 
grateful  shades  !  Not  one  single  tree  left." 

Friday  noon,  January  i3th,  1 1  7th  day  of  the  siege,  gth 
day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  I  hope  I  shall  get  a  parlementaire  for  to-morrow 
morning,  as  M.  Jules  Favre  has  sent  me  two  important 
documents  to  forward,  one  to  Bismarck  and  one  to  Lord 
Granville,  and  then  the  Diplomatic  Corps  want  to  send 
a  document  to  Bismarck,  relating  to  the  bombardment 
without  notice.  Not  one  word  of  news  this  morning,  but 
I  think  the  bombardment  is  slackening  a  little.  Nobody 
knows  how  soon  it  may  commence  again  and  become 
more  violent  than  ever.  But  no  shells  in  our  neighbor- 
hood." 

Saturday  evening,  January  i4th,  n8th  day  of  the 
siege,  loth  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  This  has  been  a  cold,  dreary  day.  Our  mild  weather 
did  not  continue  long.  Although  my  bag  and  papers 
came  in  last  Tuesday  night,  I  have  been  so  busy  with 
matters  connected  with  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  other 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT.     299 

things,  that  I  have  not  had  time  to  read  up  the  papers.  I 
therefore  sat  down  to  it  this  morning,  and  did  not  leave 
my  room  till  two  o'clock  this  afternoon.  I  then  walked 
down  to  my  bankers  and  witnessed  the  unpleasant  sight 
of  two  large  and  magnificent  trees  being  cut  down  on  the 
Champs  Elysees.  The  government  seems  to  have  no  con- 
trol whatever.  The  people  go  where  they  please,  and 
cut  down  what  trees  they  please.  The  bombardment  has 
not  been  so  violent  as  usual.  In  those  parts  of  the  city 
where  the  bombs  have  not  reached,  there  is  no  change, 
and  everything  goes  on  as  usual.  Codfish  dinner  to- 
day, with  '  pork  scraps.' ' 

Sunday,  January  i5th,  i  igth  day  of  the  siege,  i  ith  day 
of  the  bombardment. 

"  The  firing  was  heavy  last  night,  and  I  believe  the 
French  expected  an  attack,  for  the  official  report  this 
morning  says  that  the  most  vigorous  measures  had  been 
taken  to  repress  any  assault.  It  is  now  eleven  days  since 
this  bombardment  of  the  city  began,  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  it  is  time  that  some  results  were  obtained.  The 
Journal  Officiel  this  morning  gives  an  account  of  the 
casualties  by  bombardment  so  far.  They  amount  only 
to  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine — fifty-one  killed,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  wounded — and  this  in  a 
population  of  two  millions.  The  number  is  not  large, 
considering  that  there  was  no  notice  of  bombardment 
given.  Of  the  whole  number  killed  and  wounded,  there 
are  thirty-nine  children.  The  damage  to  the  buildings 
has  not  been  very  large  as  yet.  It  would  not  surprise  me 
if  things  were  culminating  at  the  present  writing. 

"  A  gentleman  has  just  been  in  to  say  that  there  is  a 
report  that  the  Prussians  have  made  an  attack  this  morn- 
ing on  the  French  works,  this  side  of  Le  Bourget,  and 
the  bombardment  of  the  forts  on  the  South  is  tremen- 


300    BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

dous,  for  the  windows  of  my  apartment  are  trembling  for 
the  first  time  as  I  write.  An  official  from  the  mairie  has 
just  been  to  see  me,  and  he  says  there  are  provisions 
enough  for  two  months  yet.  Another  man  will  come  in 
soon  and  tell  me  that  the  supply  of  bread  will  only  last  a 
week,  and  that  the  city  must  then  surrender.  So  to  an 
outsider,  at  least,  it  is  all  guess-work.  The  only  thing  I 
pretend  to  know  is  that  the  city  stands  firm  ;  but  who  can 
measure  the  horrors  of  this  population  ?  From  all  I  can 
learn  from  the  outside,  I  take  it  that  all  peoples  are  look- 
ing on,  and  with  apparent  indifference.  The  Diplomatic 
Corps  sent  out  their  document  to  Bismarck  yesterday 
morning.  (4  o'clock  P.M.)  A  friend  called,  and  we 
walked  out  to  the  Trocadero  to  see  what  could  be  seen. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  learn  what  is  going  on.  A  fort 
might  be  taken,  or  a  Prussian  attack  repulsed  to-day,  but 
we  should  hear  nothing  of  it  until  to-morrow  morning, 
when  we  should  read  a  few  stolid  lines  in  the  official 
report." 

Monday,  January  i6th,  i2Oth  day  of  the  siege,  i2th 
day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  There  was  so  much  firing  and  pounding  away  yester- 
day that  I  surmised  that  something  would  actually  take 
place,  but  the  military  report  this  morning  shows  that 
there  was  nothing  but  a  violent  combat  between  the  forts 
and  the  Prussian  batteries,  and  perhaps  rather  more  than 
the  usual  number  of  shells  thrown  into  the  city.  The 
sky  is  sombre  this  morning,  but  it  is  not  quite  so  cold  as 
yesterday.  As  I  look  out  of  my  window  the  city  appears 
sullen  and  indifferent  to  this  constant  thundering  of 
cannon.  Twelve  days  of  furious  bombardment  have  ac- 
complished but  little.  The  killing  and  wounding  of  a 
few  men,  women  and  children,  and  the  knocking  to  pieces 
of  a  few  hundred  houses,  in  a  city  of  two  millions,  is  no 


BEFORE  AND  DURING   THE  BOMBARDMENT. 


301 


great  progress.  But  perhaps  one  of  the  French  forts 
may  fall.  Then  the  Prussians  may  get  a  nearer  range. 
If  they  do  not  accomplish  that,  they  will  stay  out  some 
time.  I  dined  last  evening  with  a  prominent  French 
official,  whose  business  it  is  to  keep  an  account  of  the 
provisions  in  Paris,  and  he  surprised  us  by  saying  that 
there  was  yet  enough  to  enable  the  city  to  hold  out 
easily  until  the  end  of  February.  The  bread  would  not 
be  of  a  good  quality,  but  it  would  hold  out.  There  were 
great  quantities  of  rice,  exhaustless  quantities  of  wine, 
sugar,  coffee,  etc.,  together  with  a  good  supply  of  horse 
meat.  The  news  comes  in  now  by  the  German  papers, 
even  so  late  as  the  8th  inst.,  and  both  sides  seem  to  be 
claiming  victories.  General  Faidherbe  says  that  he  has 
not  been  defeated,  but  that  he  thrashed  the  Prussians. 
King  William  says  that  Chanzy's  advanced  guard  has 
been  gloriously  repulsed,  and  each  party  claims  the  ad- 
vantage at  Nuits,  and  so  we  are  left  here  in  the  dark  to 
guess  and  speculate,  and  talk,  talk,  talk.  That  is  the 
great  occupation  of  the  day." 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    END    OF    THE    SIEGE. 

Diplomatic  Correspondence — Bismarck  Explains  the  Taking  of  Hostages  by 
the  Germans — Controversy  over  the  American  Despatch  Bag — The 
Last  Days  of  the  Bombardment — Another  Great  and  Fruitless  Sortie — 
Trochu  Succeeded  by  Vinoy — The  Uproar  of  the  Mob — Fired  upon  by 
the  Mobiles — An  Armistice  at  Last — The  Siege  Raised. 

ON  January  i6th  I  addressed  another  official  commu- 
nication to  my  government,  saying  that  it  was  the 
twelfth  day  since  the  bombardment  of  the  city  and  of  the 
forts  of  the  South  had  begun,  with,  it  was  generally  sup- 
posed, all  the  power  of  the  besieging  forces.  The  Journal 
Officiel  of  the  previous  day  had  given  a  report  of  the  re- 
sults of  the  bombardment  of  the  city  from  the  5th  to  the 
1 3th  inst,  showing  the  number  that  had  been  killed  and 
wounded,  and  the  public  edifices  that  had  been  struck. 
The  number  of  private  buildings  struck  was  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty,  but  few.  of  them  were  much  damaged. 
No  building  of  any  great  value  had  been  burned.  No 
bombs  had  yet  fallen  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine. 
When  the  length  of  time  that  the  bombardment  had  been 
going  on,  and  the  enormous  quantity  of  material  that  had 
been  expended,  were  considered,  the  small  number  killed 
and  wounded,  and  the  small  amount  of  damage  done, 
were  surprising.  The  bombardment  had  not  so  far  had 
the  effect  of  hastening  a  surrender.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  apparently  had  made  the  people  more  firm  and  de- 
termined. In  the  presence  of  the  common  danger,  the 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


303 


hostility  to  the  government,  which  was  so  openly  mani- 
fested some  two  weeks  previously,  had  been  greatly 
modified.  It  was  hard  to  tell  the  amount  of  damage 
which  had  been  done  to  the  forts.  But  one  thing  was 
certain,  that  no  fort  had  either  been  taken  or  silenced. 
It  was  impossible  to  tell  how  long  any  of  the  forts  could 
hold  out.  If  the  Prussians  could  get  possession  of  one 
of  them,  they  would  have  a  much  larger  part  of  the  city 
immediately  under  their  guns,  and  the  bombardment 
under  such  circumstances  could  only  be  contemplated 
with  horror.  In  the  event  of  the  city  not  yielding  to 
bombardment  or  assault,  the  question  always  was,  how 
long  before  it  would  have  to  yield  to  famine  ?  I  was  re- 
luctant to  speak  further  on  that  subject,  as  my  predic- 
tions had  so  often  failed  of  verification.  I  had  seen  a 
gentleman  who  had  charge  of  rationing  the  people  of 
the  arrondissement  in  which  I  lived,  and  he  assured  me 
that  they  had  enough  provisions  for  two  months.  While 
the  amount  of  flour  was  running  short,  he  said  they  had 
a  great  quantity  of  grain,  and  the  only  trouble  was  in 
making  it  into  flour  fast  enough  to  supply  the  demand 
for  bread.  I  had  met  on  the  previous  night  a  gentleman 
in  a  high  official  position  whose  duty  it  was  to  gather  all 
the  information  possible  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  food 
in  the  city,  and  he  said  there  was  enough  to  last  till  the 
first  of  March.  Another  man,  claiming  to  be  equally 
well-informed,  positively  assured  me  that  there  were 
only  provisions  enough  to  last  two  weeks  at  the  outside. 
The  weather  had  again  become  cold  and  the  sufferings 
of  the  people  had  been  intensified. 

.  I  also  informed  my  government  that  on  January  i3th 
the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  then  remaining  in 
Paris  addressed  a  communication  to  Count  Bismarck 
in  relation  to  the  bombardment  of  the  city  without 


304  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

notice.  It  represented  that  women,  children  and  sick 
persons  had  been  struck,  and  among  the  victims  were 
many  who  belonged  to  neutral  States.  The  lives  and 
property  of  persons  of  all  nationalities  residing  in  Paris 
were  in  constant  danger.  Such  things  had  happened 
without  any  preliminary  warning  against  the  dangers 
which  threatened  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  those  of 
their  countrymen  who  had  hitherto  been  prevented  from 
placing  themselves  in  safety  by  force  majeure,  and  espe- 
cially by  the  impediments  placed  in  the  way  of  their  de- 
parture by  the  belligerents.  In  the  presence  of  events 
of  so  grave  a  character,  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  then  in  Paris  had  thought  it  necessary,  with  the 
full  sense  of  their  responsibilities  toward  the  represent- 
ative governments  and  of  their  duties  toward  their  fel- 
low-countrymen, to  concert  in  respect  to  the  measures  to 
be  taken  in  the  premises.  They,  therefore,  had  come  to 
the  unanimous  resolution  to  request  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  recognized  principles  and  usages  of  nations,  steps 
be  taken  to  permit  their  countrymen  to  place  themselves 
and  their  property  in  safety. 

I  wrote  a  further  despatch  to  my  government  on  this 
day  in  reference  to  the  numerous  duties  that  had  fallen 
upon  me.  I  supposed  that  they  would  have  been  ended 
before  that  time.  Instead  they  had  greatly  increased,  and 
no  man  could  venture  to  predict  how  long  they  were 
likely  to  continue.  I  was  on  that  day  furnishing  aid  to 
twenty-two  hundred  and  seventy-six  destitute  Germans, 
and  had  to  employ  three  additional  persons  in  my  le- 
gation to  perform  the  services  necessary  in  looking  after 
them.  It  was  necessary  to  consider  the  vastly  enhanced 
prices  of  everything  which  we  had  to  purchase,  as  inci- 
dent to  the  state  of  siege.  For  instance,  I  had  had  to 
pay  at  the  rate  of  more  than  fifty  dollars  a  cord  for  wood. 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE.  305 

It  was  on  this  day  (January  i6th,  1871)  that  Count 
Bismarck  wrote  me  a  communication  in  respect  to  a  let- 
ter addressed  to  Earl  Granville,  by  M.  Tissot,  the  French 
Charge  d'affaires  at  London,  which  complained  of  the 
system,  as  he  called  it,  of  the  German  authorities,  in  the 
occupied  parts  of  France,  taking  hostages  and  arresting 
persons  belonging  to  the  Civil  Service.  He  enclosed 
me  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  M.  Tissot.  The  Count  wrote 
me  that  the  hostages  spoken  of  were  taken  in  order  to 
procure  the  deliverance  of  the  masters  and  crews  of  Ger- 
man merchantmen  treated  as  prisoners  of  war  by  the 
French,  which  he  had  previously  explained  to  me.  Inde- 
pendently of  that,  he  admitted  that  civil  officials  had 
been  arrested  and  some  of  them  sent  to  Germany,  partly 
for  trial,  partly  to  be  kept  in  safe  custody,  because  they 
had  acted  in  a  manner  prejudicial  to  the  security  of  the 
German  forces,  or  to  the  interest  of  the  German  occu- 
pation. M.  Tissot  had  charged  among  other  things  that 
M.  Garceau,  an  engineer  of  bridges  and  roads,  had  been 
arrested  for  refusing  to  continue  his  official  functions, 
which  he  had  done  in  obedience  to  an  order  of  his 
French  superior.  So  far  from  justifying  the  demands  for 
M.  Garceau's  release,  his  conduct  afforded  an  additional 
justification  of  the  action  of  the  Germans.  Count  Bis- 
marck said  that  the  Germans  were  only  following  the 
practice  habitually  observed  by  the  French,  when  occu- 
pying the  territory  of  an  enemy,  which  practice  had  been 
amply  and  authentically  detailed  in  the  published  corre- 
spondence of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  I.  He  said  he 
might  remind  the  government  of  the  National  Defence, 
that  according  to  the  practice  which  had  been  set  forth 
in  that  correspondence,  M.  Garceau  would  run  the  risk 
of  being  shot.  But  he  simply  desired  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  French  to  a  principle  well  established  in  In- 


3o6  THE  END  OF  THE  SIEGE. 

ternational  Law,  that  a  belligerent,  while  occupying  the 
territory  of  an  adversary,  may  claim,  and,  if  necessary, 
enforce  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  officials  residing  in 
that  territory  ;  and  the  refusal  of  such  an  official  to  obey 
him  would  but  be  aggravated  by  the  pretension  of  obey- 
ing orders  issuing  from  the  enemy. 

I  have  spoken  heretofore  of  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Fon- 
taine, a  German  man  of  letters,  who  had  been  imprisoned 
in  France  and  for  whom  three  French  hostages  had  been 
taken  to  guarantee  his  safety  and  lead  to  his  liberation. 
The  government  at  Tours  proposed  to  exchange  Mr. 
Fontaine  for  a  French  officer,  but  Bismarck  declined,  be- 
cause in  his  character  as  a  man  of  letters  he  stood  in  the 
same  category  as  the  captains  of  German  merchantmen 
held  unjustly  in  France,  and  said  :  "  I  take  advantage  of 
the  occasion  to  make  the  observation  in  regard  to  the 
latter  that  information  worthy  of  belief  (contrary  to  the 
evidence  easily  obtained  in  their  sad  condition  by  the 
French  authorities),  leaves  no  doubt  in  regard  to  the  bad 
treatment  to  which  they  have  been  subjected  in  their  cap- 
tivity. The  German  authorities  consider  themselves 
obliged,  in  consequence  of  this  information,  to  still  in- 
crease the  number  of  hostages  detained  at  Bremen  by 
having  a  certain  number  of  persons  arrested  in  different 
French  cities,  held  in  Germany  until  the  French  author- 
ities consent  to  set  at  liberty  the  captains  of  the  mer- 
chant marine  whom  they  have  sequestered." 

I  have  briefly  referred  to  a  correspondence  which  oc- 
curred in  the  first  part  of  December  between  Count  Bis- 
marck and  myself  in  relation  to  English  newspapers 
which  I  had,  and  which  a  correspondent  of  a  London 
paper  had  stated  had  been  received  by  me  regularly  in 
my  despatch  bag  from  England.  This  correspondent 
added  a  detailed  account  of  the  eagerness  of  the  French 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


307 


journals  to  peruse  the  English  papers,  so  as  to  reproduce 
their  contents  in  the  Paris  journals.  He  stated  that  the 
military  authorities  could  not  sanction  that  foreign 
papers,  of  recent  date,  should  reach  the  besieged  city 
without  having  been  previously  examined.  He  said  that 
in  obtaining  for  the  United  States  legation  the  privi- 
lege of  receiving  closed  despatches  within  a  besieged 
fortress,  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  led  by  the  convic- 
tion that  nothing  could  be  feared  from  any  inconvenience 
which  would  be  liable  to  compromise  the  German  interest. 

On  December  i2th  I  answered  Count  Bismarck  in  re- 
spect to  this  matter,  and  said  that  I  took  it  for  granted 
that  a  few  numbers  of  the  London  papers  of  an  old  date 
could  do  neither  good  nor  harm  to  any  interest ;  hence 
I  permitted  them  to  lie  on  my  table  to  be  perused  by 
people  who  were  sufficiently  interested  to  come  and  look 
over  them.  But  as  some  of  the  Paris  journals  charged 
that  they  were  sent  to  me  by  the  Prussian  authorities  in 
the  hope  that  the  bad  news  that  they  might  contain 
would  discourage  the  French,  and  as  he  considered  their 
reception  incompatible  with  the  rules  dictated  by  his  mili- 
tary operations,  I  should  decline  receiving  any  more  papers, 
and  I  had  that  day  written  to  London  to  that  effect. 

Three  days  after  the  date  of  my  letter  of  December 
1 2th,  Count  Bismarck  wrote  me  a  very  courteous  reply, 
stating  that  he  hastened  to  assure  me  that  I  had  misun- 
derstood the  bearing  of  his  remarks  ;  that  he  had  no  in- 
tention of  depriving  me  of  any  of  the  English  or  Amer- 
ican papers  which  I  wished  to  receive,  and  that  I  was  en- 
tirely free  to  have  them  come  for  my  own  private  use  ; 
that  he  was  persuaded  that  I  would  take  the  necessary 
precautions  that  no  inconvenience  should  result,  incom- 
patible with  military  interests.  The  King's  Ambassador 
at  London  was  therefore  instructed  to  inform  Mr.  Mot- 


308  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

ley,  our  minister  there,  that  there  was  no  opposition  to 
sending  me  the  English  and  American  papers,  which  I 
wished  to  receive. 

But  this  matter  of  receiving  papers  continued,  even 
after  this,  to  be  a  great  nuisance  to  me,  and  on  the  ist 
day  of  January,  1871,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Moran,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  legation  at  London,  as  follows  : 
"  Please  send  me  no  more  London  papers  ;  only  cut  out 
the  telegraphic  despatches  from  the  United  States,  from 
day  to  day,  and  send  them.  It  is  too  much  to  be  the 
only  person  in  a  city  of  two  millions  of  people  receiving 
any  outside  news.  It  has  become  a  great  annoyance, 
and  I  prefer  being  without  news  to  being  subject  to  it." 

And  on  January  4th  I  wrote  to  Count  Bismarck  that 
the  receipt  of  the  London  papers  might  involve  me  in 
trouble,  and  I  had  accordingly  written  to  Mr.  Moran  not 
to  send  me  any  more.  "Some  Paris  papers  represent 
that  I  have  given  out  news  ;  others  say  I  have  given  out 
nothing,  because  the  news  is  favorable  to  the  French 
arms,  and  attempts  have  been  made  to  bribe  my  servant 
to  get  hold  of  the  London  papers." 

On  January  I5th  Count  Bismarck  addressed  to  me 
another  communication  in  respect  to  my  despatch  bag. 
Letters  had  been  sent  out  of  Paris  in  a  balloon  which  had 
been  captured  by  the  Germans.  He  sent  copies  of  cer- 
tain passages  in  such  letters  showing  that  the  facilities 
which  had  been  accorded  to  the  correspondents  of  the 
American  legation  in  London  were  known  to  private 
persons,  etc.,  and  that  these  extracts  had  proved  that 
Mr.  Hoffman,  who  was  my  secretary  of  legation,  had 
been  expected  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  an  epistolary 
intercourse  of  that  kind.  He  begged  that  I  would  effec- 
tually prevent  the  members  of  my  legation  from  lending 
themselves  to  a  practice  the  continuance  of  which  would 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


309 


make  it  imperative  for  him  not  to  allow  any  letters  to  pass 
except  those  bearing  the  seal  of  the  State  Department 
at  Washington.  Such  occurrences  had  made  the  military 
authorities  indisposed  to  favor  a  prompt  transfer  of  my 
correspondence,  and  he  suggested  that  it  would  be  better 
to  have  my  despatch  bag  sent,  not  to  London,  but  directly 
to  Washington,  and  on  its  return  to  have  it  made  up  and 
sealed,  not  in  London,  but  in  Washington,  and  to  send  to 
me  my  private  letters  with  the  bag,  but  not  enclosed  in  it. 

On  the  same  day  Count  Bismarck  wrote  me  another 
communication  on  the  same  subject,  in  which  he  spoke 
of  the  indisposition  of  the  military  authorities  to  permit 
my  bag  to  pass  through  their  lines,  without  a  stoppage 
of  several  days,  and  saying  that  however  much  he  might 
from  personal  considerations  feel  inclined  to  oppose  the 
restrictions  of  the  military  authorities  in  all  cases  where  I 
was  concerned,  he  could  not  help  perceiving  that  all  his 
endeavors  would  be  fruitless  after  the  impression  pro- 
duced upon  his  general  staff  by  the  balloon  letters  which 
formed  the  subject  of  another  communication. 

As  this  matter  of  the  despatch  bag  had  been  the  subject 
of  a  good  deal  of  controversy  and  of  some  complaint,  I 
made  full  answer  to  Count  Bismarck  on  January  iQth,  as 
follows  : 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

PARIS,  January  19,  1871. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  two  letters, 
both  under  date  of  the  i5th  instant,  relating  to  matters  connected  with 
the  transmission  of  the  United  States  despatch  bag  to  and  from  this  city. 
One  of  the  letters  encloses  extracts  from  those  letters  said  to  have 
been  addressed  by  persons  residing  in  Paris  to  correspondents  abroad, 
such  letters  having  been  sent  out  in  a  balloon  which  was  captured  by 
your  men. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  the  facilities  for  correspondence  which  the  le- 
gation of  the  United  States  at  Paris  has  had  are  known  in  London  and 
elsewhere,  and  that  certain  persons  have  sought  to  abuse  those  facilities, 


310  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

and,  in  order  to  accomplish  their  purposes,  have  attempted  to  make  an 
unwarrantable  use  of  this  legation.  A  good  many  letters  have  found 
their  way  to  our  legation  here.  Many  have  been  sent  by  Your  Excel- 
lency, some  by  Count  Solms,  and  some  by  Count  Hatzfeldt.  These 
letters  having,  as  I  have  assumed,  passed  through  your  hands,  I  consid- 
ered that  I  had  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  they  contained  nothing  com- 
promising to  either  belligerent,  and  I  caused  them  all  to  be  delivered  to 
the  parties  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  without  examination. 

Of  the  letters  that  have  found  their  way  into  my  despatch  bag,  coming 
from  London,  some  were  addressed  to  my  compatriots  who  have  been 
detained  in  Paris.  Such  letters,  after  having  been  examined  and  found 
to  contain  no  allusion  to  military  or  political  matters,  have  been  delivered. 

A  very  few  letters  have  come  to  me  addressed  to  people  of  nationali- 
ties other  than  French,  and  after  examining  them  and  finding  that  they 
contained  no  allusion  to  military  events,  I  caused  them  also  to  be 
delivered.  Perhaps  in  half  a  dozen  cases  I  have  delivered  some  very 
brief  notes  to  French  people  well  known  to  me,  but  only  after  the  most 
scrupulous  examination  which  showed  them  to  contain  absolutely 
nothing  but  reference  to  family  matters.  And  I  may  say  that  nine 
out  of  ten  of  the  small  number  of  letters  I  have  received  through  my 
despatch  bag  have  not  been  delivered  by  me  at  all,  as  I  considered  that 
it  was  not  in  accordance  with  your  understanding  of  what  the  bag  might 
contain.  I  have  to  remark,  therefore,  that  no  letters,  received  through 
my  despatch  bag  from  London,  have  ever  gone  out  of  this  legation 
which  contained  anything  in  regard  to  military  or  political  events,  or 
containing  anything  in  the  least  degree  compromising  to  either  of  the 
belligerents  ;  and  I  beg  to  say  further,  that  I  have  equally  guarded  the 
contents  of  my  outgoing  bag. 

In  this  connection  permit  me  to  observe  that  you  will  find  enclosed 
herewith  an  envelope,  containing  certain  letters  addressed  to  persons  in 
Paris,  and  which  you  sent  to  me  by  the  last  parlementaire.  I  know 
nothing  of  these  persons,  and  I  know  no  reason  why  I  should  deliver  the 
letters.  I  therefore  have  the  honor  to  return  them  to  you. 

As  you  suggest  that  the  extracts  of  the  balloon  letters  prove  that 
Colonel  Hoffman  was  expected  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  epistolary 
correspondence,  I  am  authorized  by  him  to  state  that  he  has  no  idea  of 
the  parties  who  wrote  two  of  the  letters  in  which  his  name  has  been  used, 
and  he  denies  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  that  they  could  have  been 
authorized  to  use  his  name  in  any  way.  As  to  the  other  party,  Mrs. 
Chandor,  an  American  lady,  whom  he  says  he  found  in  great  distress  on 
account  of  the  sickness  of  her  children  with  the  small-pox,  in  Brussels, 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


31* 


he  consented  to  have  information  sent  to  her  in  regard  to  them.  He 
had  no  conception  that  this  act  of  pure  kindness  would  be  taken  advan- 
tage of  to  get  in  a  letter  to  the  gentleman  therein  named,  whom  he  had 
never  heard  of.  I  make  haste  to  speak  of  Colonel  Hoffman  as  a  gentle- 
man of  the  most  unquestioned  loyalty  and  honor,  a  man  who  thoroughly 
appreciates  his  duties  and  obligations,  and  holds  to  a  most  rigorous 
observance  of  them.  I  have  no  idea  who  the  writer  of  the  letters  is  who 
speaks  of  receiving  news  by  the  "intermediary  of  Mr.  Washburne,"  but 
I  do  know  that  he  never  had  any  authority  from  me  to  use  my  name  in 
that  way,  and  in  doing  so  was  guilty  of  a  gross  impertinence  and  a  gross 
outrage. 

I  beg  to  thank  Your  Excellency  for  your  prompt  transmission  of  my 
bag  to  London,  in  accordance  with  the  request  of  my  letter  of  the  i3th 
instant. 

In  relation  to  the  suggestion  which  Your  Excellency  makes,  that  my 
despatch  bag  shall  be  sent  directly  to  Washington,  not  to  be  opened  in 
London,  I  have  to  state  that  such  an  arrangement  would  deprive  me  of 
communicating  with  the  United  States  legation  in  London,  and  through 
that  legation,  in  case  of  need,  with  the  Washington  Government  by 
telegraph. 

In  regard  to  sending  my  despatches  from  Washington  in  a  bag  made 
up  there  to  be  transmitted  directly  to  me  here,  its  practical  operation  at 
the  present  time  would  be  to  deprive  me  of  all  communication  from  my 
government.  My  weekly  despatches  from  Mr.  Fish  for  the  last  four 
weeks  are  now  on  their  way  from  Washington  to  Paris.  If  I  am  de- 
prived of  a  bag  from  London,  those  despatches,  therefore,  could  not 
reach  me  under  the  seal  of  my  government,  which  is  the  only  way  that 
I  would  feel  authorized  to  receive  them.  Independently  of  that,  it  will 
take  between  three  and  four  weeks  for  me  to  get  a  letter  to  Washington, 
requesting  that  the  bag  may  be  made  up  there  directly  for  Paris.  In  the 
meantime,  despatches  to  me  would  be  coming  weekly  to  London,  with 
the  expectation  that  I  should  receive  them  in  the  usual  manner.  And 
further,  after  my  letter  should  have  finally  reached  Washington,  request- 
ing that  the  bag  should  be  made  up  there  for  Paris,  it  would  take  the 
contents  of  such  bag  three  or  four  weeks  more  to  reach  me. 

Hence,  Your  Excellency  will  perceive  that  if  I  should  receive  no  bag 
from  London  I  should  be  deprived  of  hearing  from  Mr.  Fish  for  a  period 
of  some  three  months. 

With  a  knowledge,  therefore,  of  the  views  of  my  government  on  this 
subject,  and  its  opinion  that  it  has  a  right  to  promptly  communicate 
with  me  as  its  representative  near  the  government  of  France,  it  is  im- 


312  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

possible  for  me  to  acquiesce  in  the  arrangement  which  you  have  done 
me  the  honor  to  recommend.  I  have  concluded,  therefore,  to  send  you 
by  the  parlementaire,  which  I  hope  to  obtain  for  Tuesday  next,  my 
despatch  bag  addressed  in  the  usual  way  to  the  United  States  despatch 
agent  in  London.  If  you  should  feel  constrained  to  decline  sending  it 
forward  without  an  unreasonable  delay,  I  shall  thank  you  to  return  it  to 
me  here  by  the  first  parlementaire.  And  also,  if  you  should  feel  con- 
strained to  retain  my  bag  sent  to  you  from  London  to  Versailles  beyond 
a  reasonable  time,  I  shall  thank  you  to  return  it  to  London. 

Out  of  respect,  due  alike  to  myself,  as  well  as  to  the  government  which 
I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  I  should  feel  compelled  to  decline  receiv- 
ing or  transmitting  any  despatch  bag  or  any  communication  through 
your  military  lines  upon  terms  and  conditions  which  might  be  construed 
as  implying  a  distrust  of  my  good  faith,  and  of  the  loyal  manner  in 
which  I  have  discharged  my  duty  toward  both  belligerents,  and  to  my 
own  government,  to  which  I  am  alone  responsible  for  my  official  action. 

Before  closing  this  communication,  I  trust  Your  Excellency  will 
pardon  me  a  further  observation.  For  the  period  of  six  months  I 
have  bee'n  charged  with  the  delicate,  laborious,  and  responsible  duty  of 
protecting  your  countrymen  in  Paris.  Of  the  manner  in  which  those 
duties,  having  relation  to  both  belligerents,  have  been  performed,  I  do 
not  propose  to  speak  ;  I  am  content  to  abide  by  the  record  made  up  in 
the  State  Department  at  Washington.  But  I  can  state  that  there  has 
never  been  a  time  when  these  duties  have  involved  greater  consequences 
and  responsibilities  than  at  the  present  moment.  As  I  have  expressed 
to  you  before,  I  have  been  astonished  at  the  number  of  Germans  who, 
as  it  turns  out,  were  left  in  the  city  when  the  gates  were  closed.  Having 
exhausted  their  last  resources,  and  finding  themselves  in  a  state  of  the 
most  absolute  destitution,  they  have  applied  to  me  for  protection  and 
aid,  which  I  have  so  far  been  enabled  to  extend  to  them  from  the  funds 
placed  in  my  hands  by  the  royal  government.  The  number  of  these 
people  amounts  to-day  to  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-five 
(2,385),  and  it  is  certain,  had  there  not  been  some  one  here  to  protect 
and  aid  them,  many  must  have  inevitably  perished  of  cold  and  starva- 
tion. My  position  in  relation  to  these  people  and  to  your  government 
is  known  to  the  people  of  Paris,  and  as  the  siege  wears  on  and  the 
exasperation  is  intensified,  I  now  find  myself  exposed  to  the  hostility  of 
a  certain  portion  of  the  population  of  the  city.  While  your  military 
authorities  seem  to  be  agitated  by  the  gravest  fears  in  relation  to  my 
despatch  bag,  I  am  daily  violently  assailed  by  a  portion  of  the  Paris 
press  as  a  "  Prussian  representative  "  and  a  "  Prussian  sympathizer,"  and 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE.  313 

a  short  time  since  it  was  proposed  in  one  of  the  clubs  that  I  should  be 
hung — rather  a  pleasant  diversion  in  these  dreary  days  of  siege  through 
which  we  are  passing. 

I  shall  only  add  that,  so  long  as  I  am  the  diplomatic  representative  of 
my  country  in  Paris,  I  shall  discharge  every  duty  (even  to  the  end  and 
in  the  face  of  every  circumstance)  that  I  owe  to  my  own  government, 
and  every  duty  that  I  have,  by  its  direction,  assumed  toward  the  sub- 
jects of  the  North  German  Confederation. 
I  have,  &c., 

E.  B.  WASHBURNE. 
His  Excellency  Count  BISMARCK,  etc. 

On  January  28th,  Bismarck  addressed  me  the  follow- 
ing communication,  in  answer  to  my  letter  of  January 
1 9th,  which  restored  the  entente  cordiale  between  us. 

VERSAILLES,  January  28,  1871. 

SIR  :  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  your  answer,  dated  the  ipth  in- 
stant, to  my  two  letters  of  the  i5th,  relating  to  your  correspondence  with 
the  United  States  legation  in  London.  I  should  very  much  regret  if 
you  should  have  construed  anything  in  these  two  letters  so  as  to  convey 
the  indication  of  any  complaint  against  you.  Nothing,  indeed,  could 
be  further  from  my  thought,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  renewing  the  expres- 
sion how  deeply  sensible  I  am  of  all  the  trouble  you  have  in  carrying  on 
your  correspondence  with  the  authorities  in  Paris,  and  in  taking  care  of 
our  countrymen  there.  But  the  balloon  letters  having  been  brought 
officially  under  my  notice  by  the  military  authorities,  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  inform  you  of  the  reference  made  in  those  letters  to  your  lega- 
tion, and  to  that  in  London.  The  delay  occurring  now  and  then  in  the 
transmission  of  your  despatch  bags  is  not  occasioned  by  any  doubt  as  to 
the  right  of  your  government  to  correspond  with  you,  but  by  obstacles 
it  was  out  of  my  power  to  remove.  I  hope  that  for  the  future  there  will 
not  be  any  more  delay  of  that  kind. 

I  avail  myself,  &c.,  &c., 

BISMARCK. 

I  shall  here  recall  that  it  was  one  day  during  the  siege 
that  I  had  a  call  at  my  legation  from  a  French  gentle- 
man, apparently  a  little  under  middle  age,  of  genteel 
manner  and  appearance,  who  apologized  for  disturbing 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

me,  but  who  said  he  had  ventured  to  have  recourse  to 
my  assistance  in  a  matter  wherein  he  hoped  I  might  be 
able  to  render  a  little  service  to  the  Empress  Eugenie. 
He  said  that  he  was  an  officer  of  the  French  navy  (Lieu- 
tenant de  vaisseau)  and  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Conneau, 
who  had  been  so  intimately  leagued  with  Napoleon  the 
Third.  I  immediately  recalled  that  his  father  was  the 
man  who  had  participated  with  Prince  Louis  in  the  affair 
of  Boulogne,  who  shared  with  him  his  captivity  in  the 
fortress  of  Ham,  and  played  a  part  in  his  escape  there- 
from, for  which  he  suffered  a  severe  condemnation.  The 
connection  of  his  father  with  the  Emperor  had  also 
brought  him  into  intimate  relations  with  the  Imperial 
family.  He  then  told  me  the  object  of  his  visit.  He 
said  there  was  in  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  a  full-sized 
statue  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Prince  Imperial,  and  he 
knew  that  the  Empress  prized  it  far  beyond  anything  else 
in  the  palace.  From  the  state  of  feeling  in  the  city  at 
that  time,  he  said  I  could  well  appreciate  the  danger  it 
would  be  in,  if  permitted  to  remain  there  ;  for  at  the 
least  outbreak,  if  the  public  should  find  out  that  the 
statue  was  there,  it  would  inevitably  be  smashed  to 
atoms.  It  was  vastly  important  that  it  should  be  re- 
moved, if  it  were  to  be  saved  ;  but  that  was  a  matter  of 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  the  excited  state  of  feeling  in 
the  city.  Lieutenant  Conneau  said  he  had  seen  General 
Trochu,  and  that  he  would  aid  him  all  he  could  in  getting 
the  statue  out  of  the  palace ;  but  after  they  had  got  it 
out,  the  question  would  be  what  to  do  with  it,  and  where 
it  could  be  stored  in  a  place  of  safety.  „  He  believed  that 
I  could  give  him  some  advice  and  assistance  which  would 
be  invaluable  in  the  premises.  Sympathizing  with  the 
Empress  in  her  misfortune,  and  thinking  of  all  her  polite- 
ness and  attention  to  my  compatriots  in  the  day  of  her 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


3'5 


power  and  prosperity,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  him  that 
I  would  gladly  aid  him  in  his  purpose  in  every  possible 
way.  I  bethought  myself  that  I  had  an  American  friend 
who  had  a  large  warehouse  in  the  Rue  Scribe,  and  I  told 
him  I  should  see  my  friend  at  once,  and  if  he  would  call 
again,  I  had  no  doubt  that  I  should  be  in  a  position  to 
serve  him.  I  found  my  friend  perfectly  willing  to  re- 
ceive the  statue  in  his  warehouse,  which  was  admirably 
fitted  for  the  purpose.  And  thus  it  was,  that  when  Lieu- 
tenant Conneau  called  again,  I  told  him  that  my  friend 
could  furnish  just  what  was  wanted,  and  further,  that  I 
should  be  at  his  disposition  at  any  time  to  receive  the 
statue  and  see  it  put  in  the  warehouse.  As  it  would  not 
do  to  attempt  to  have  it  moved  from  the  Tuileries  in  the 
daytime,  he  said  he  would  have  it  at  the  Rue  Scribe 
on  a  certain  midnight.  I  was  promptly  on  hand  at 
that  hour  to  receive  it.  Being  of  solid  marble  it  was 
very  heavy  and  was  strongly  boxed  up.  It  took  four 
strong  horses  to  draw  it  and  a  large  number  of  men  to 
handle  it.  I  was  surprised  to  see  such  an  immense  af- 
fair when  I  reached  the  Rue  Scribe,  and  felt  that  it  must 
attract  attention  and  that  inquiries  would  be  made  as  to 
what  such  a  performance  meant  at  midnight.  Happily, 
it  was  not  observed.  The  immense  box,  under  which 
had  been  placed  rollers,  was  carefully  taken  from  the 
transport  wagon  and  rolled  into  the  large  room  of  the 
warehouse.  I  then  nailed  three  or  four  of  my  official 
cards  on  the  box,  and  we  all  breathed  more  freely  to  find 
it  safely  housed,  and  the  public  no  wiser.  It  remained 
unharmed  and  untouched  until  days  of  peace  and  quiet 
came  to  Paris,  when  the  Empress  requested  to  have  it 
sent  to  her  in  England.  Appreciating  what  I  had  done 
in  the  matter,  she  afterward  addressed  me  the  following 
letter  which  is  presented  in  fac-simile  : 


'£.. 


Fac-simile  of  the   Empress   Eugenie's  Note. 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE.  317 

Entry  in  my  diary  Tuesday  evening,  January  1 7th, 
I2ist  day  of  the  siege,  i3th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  The  firing  seems  to  have  been  less  furious  to-day. 
The  people  in  the  parts  of  the  city  bombarded  are  getting 
out  of  the  way,  and  are  not  exposing  themselves  so  much. 
The  consequence  is  that  the  number  of  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  last  few  days  has  been  much  smaller  than 
before.  Some  few  shells  have  reached  the  Seine,  but  the 
material  damage  is  nowhere  very  great  as  yet,  consider- 
ing the  length  of  time  the  bombardment  has  been  going 
on,  and  the  number  of  bombs  thrown  into  the  city. 
Moltke  must  put  on  more  steam,  if  he  expects  to  take 
Paris  in  this  way.  The  bag  came  in  at  one  o'clock  this 
afternoon,  bringing  lots  of  letters  and  papers  which  I  have 
been  enjoying  hugely.  The  weather  has  become  milder, 
and  military  movements  are  spoken  of,  but  I  have  come 
to  regard  such  movements  as  no  more  than  '  thistle  down 
and  feathers.'  And  after  this,  there  is  a  rumor  of  bad 
news  from  the  French,  said  to  have  come  in  by  the  Ger- 
man newspapers  of  the  i2th  inst.  It  generally  falls  out 
that  all  such  rumors  prove  true." 

Wednesday  evening,  January  i8th,  i22d  day  of  the 
siege,  1 4th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  Four  months  of  siege  to-day,  and  where  has  all  this 
time  gone  ?  It  seems  to  me  as  if  I  had  been  buried  alive. 
I  have  accomplished  nothing,  and,  separated  from  my 
family  and  friends,  cut  off  from  communications  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  with  the  outside  world,  these  dreary  weeks 
might  quite  as  well  be  struck  out  of  my  existence.  A 
great  movement  of  troops  to-day,  and  a  sortie  to-morrow 
out  toward  Mont  Valerien.  The  number  of  troops  is 
very  large,  but  there  has  been  but  little  parade  and  talk 
about  this  sortie.  Who  knows  but  what  it  will  accom- 
plish something,!  The  ambulances  have  all  been  notified, 


7i8  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

O 

and  I  shudder  for  the  forthcoming  horrors.  I  went  down 
this  afternoon,  and  the  Champs  Elysees  was  filled  with 
artillery  wagons  all  going  out  by  the  Avenue  of  the  Grand 
Army.  The  people  are  still  cutting  down  the  large  trees. 
The  bombardment  is  doing  less  damage.  From  the  6th 
to  the  1 7th,  there  were  only  fourteen  victims — thirteen 
wounded  and  only  one  killed.  The  Prussians  are  pound- 
ing away  all  the  while  at  the  forts,  and  the  French  are 
replying  as  best  they  can,  but  not  much  damage  is  done 
on  either  side.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that  the 
city  can  only  be  taken  by  starvation.  G—  -  and  I  dined 
to-day  with  Mr.  Lilly  and  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  had  a  nice 
dinner ;  among  the  dishes,  elegant  fresh  fish  from  the 
Seine.  Called  to  see  M.  Jules  Favre  a  moment  at  6  P.M. 
He  had  no  news,  but  as  the  weather  has  become  milder, 
he  now  expects  a  pigeon." 

Thursday,  5  P.M.,  January  igth,  I2$d  day  of  the  siege, 
1 5th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  This  is  the  day  of  the  great  sortie.  At  this  hour  noth- 
ing is  known  of  results,  but  it  has  undoubtedly  been  the 
bloodiest  yet  seen  about  the  walls  of  Paris.  The  great 
fighting  seems  to  be  between  St.  Cloud  and  Versailles, 
or,  rather,  to  the  north  of  St.  Cloud.  It  is  said,'  how- 
ever, that  other  parts  of  the  Prussian  lines  have  been 
attacked  also,  but  I  hardly  believe  it.  The  attack  has 
been  terrific  on  St.  Cloud.  At  2.30  P.M.,  Colonel  Hoff- 
man and  myself  went  to  the  Chateau  de  la  Muette,  in 
Passy,  which  is  the  headquarters  of  Admiral  de  Langle. 
This  is  an  historic  chateau,  once  owned  by  the  Duke  of 
Orleans,  Philip  Egalite,  and  where  he  held  high  carnival. 
Nature  made  it  a  magnificent  spot,  elevated  and  beauti- 
ful, and  it  was  adorned  by  everything  that  money  and 
taste  could  supply.  It  is  now  owned  by  Madame  Erard, 
the  widow  of  the  piano  manufacturer.  From  the  cupola 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


319 


of  this  chateau  is  the  most  magnificent  view  on  that  side 
of  Paris,  and  it  was  there  that  we  went  to  look  through 
the  great  telescope  into  the  Prussian  lines.  We  found 
there  M.  Jules  Favre,  Ernest  Picard,  Minister  of  Finance, 
M.  Duruy,  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  under  the 


Chateau   de  la   Muette. 


Empire,  Henri  Martin,  the  French  historian,  and  others. 
We  first  look  at  Mont  Valerien,  that  noted  and  renowned 
fortress,  standing  in  its  majestic  grandeur,  overlooking 
and  commanding  this  ill-fated  city,  and  holding  in  awe  its 
proud  enemy  for  miles  around.  We  then  look  at  the 
Aqueduct,  where  we  see  the  Prussian  staff  as  plainly 


320  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

almost  as  we  could  see  a  group  of  men  at  the  house  of  a 
neighbor  from  our  own  balcony.  Then  we  turn  to  St. 
Cloud,  and  see  the  ruins  of  that  renowned  palace,  for  cen- 
turies the  pride  of  France.  Now,  we  look  right  into  the 
eyes  of  those  terrible  Prussian  batteries,  which  for  two 
weeks  have  been  vomiting  fire  and  flame,  death  and  de- 
struction, upon  devoted  Paris. 

"  But,  strange  to  say,  they  are  comparatively  silent,  only 
now  and  then  a  discharge  from  each  battery.  They  have 
apparently  other  business  to  attend  to  besides  firing  into 
the  streets  of  this  sombre  capital.  Five  hundred  thou- 
sand men  are  struggling  to  break  through  that  circle  of 
fire  and  iron,  which  has  held  them  for  four  long,  long 
months.  The  lay  of  the  country  is  such  that  we  cannot 
see  the  theatre  of  the  conflict  which  has  been  raging  all 
day.  The  low  muttering  of  the  distant  cannon,  and  the 
rising  of  the  smoke,  indicate,  however,  where  is  the  field 
of  carnage.  This  crowd  of  Frenchmen  in  the  cupola 
were  sad  indeed,  and  we  could  not  help  feeling  for  their 
anxiety.  Favre  and  Picard  wore  grave  faces  and  were 
silent,  and  we  only  passed  the  word  of  salutation. 

"  From  the  chateau  I  went  to  the  American  ambulance. 
The  carriages  had  just  returned  from  the  battle-field  with 
their  loads  of  mutilated  victims.  They  brought  in  sixty- 
five  of  the  wounded, — all  they  had  room  for  in  the  am- 
bulance. The  assistants  were  removing  their  clothes,  all 
wet  and  clotted  with  blood,  and  the  surgeons  were  bind- 
ing up  their  ghastly  wounds.  The  men  who  went  out 
with  the  ambulances  were  Dr.  Johnston,  Mr.  Bowles,  Dr. 
Lamson  and  G—  — .  They  represented  the  slaughter  of 
the  French  troops  as  horrible,  and  they  could  not  see  that 
they  had  made  any  headway.  The  whole  country  was 
literally  covered  with  the  dead  and  wounded,  and  five 
hundred  ambulances  were  not  half  sufficient  to  bring 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE.  321 

them  away.  Our  American  ambulance  went  to  Rueil, 
and  our  men  are  in  a  high  state  of  indignation,  think- 
ing that  the  Prussians  deliberately  shelled  them  in  the 
streets,  but  I  don't  believe  that.  Fortunately  nobody 
was  hurt  and  but  one  of  the  carriages  was  hit.  Mr. 
Bowles  saw  a  shell  hit  the  church  where  repose  the  re- 
mains of  the  Empress  Josephine.  I  must  now  wait  until 
I  hear  further,  and  that  may  not  be  until  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. The  day  has  been  mild  and  a  little  cloudy  and  on 
the  whole  a  capital  one  for  military  operations. 

"  All  Paris  is  on  the  qui  vive  and  the  wildest  reports 
are  circulating.  The  streets  are  full  of  people,  men, 
women  and  children.  Who  will  undertake  to  measure 
the  agonies  of  this  dreadful  hour  ! 

"  (6.30  P.M.)  G —  -  has  just  come  in  from  the  ambu- 
lance. He  had  charge  of  one  of  the  wagons  that  went 
out  to  the  battle-field,  and  he  brought  in  several  of  the 
wounded.  He  says  that  the  last  reports  are  bad  for  the 
French,  and  that  the  left  wing  was  giving  way.  My  own 
opinion  is  that  the  day  has  been  a  failure  for  the  French 
arms.  The  government  has  begun  rationing  bread,  and 
each  adult  is  entitled  to  have  three-fifths  of  a  pound  per 
day  and  children  over  five  years  of  age  half  of  that 
amount.  The  quantity  is  very  small  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  there  is  not  much  else  to  eat,  and  the  qual- 
ity is  horrible — black,  heavy,  miserable  stuff,  made  of 
flour,  oat-meal,  peas,  beans  and  rice.  The  cook  put  a 
loaf  of  it  in  my  hands  and  I  thought  it  was  a  pig  of  Ga- 
lena lead  smelted  at  Hughlet's  furnace." 

Friday  evening,  January  2oth,  I24th  day  of  the  siege, 
1 6th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  The  results  of  yesterday — blood,  tears,  anguish  and 
horror.  I  was  not  mistaken  last  night  as  to  the  outcome 
of  the  fighting,  except  that  it  is  worse  than  I  could  have 

21 


322  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

imagined.  The  troops  have  all  come  back  to  the  town. 
From  what  I  can  gather,  the  sortie  has  been  the  most  fa- 
tal of  all  to  the  French,  and  has  inflicted  no  great  harm 
on  the  enemy.  Everything  has  been  so  oppressive  that 
I  have  been  about  very  little  to-day.  McKean  has  just 
been  in  and  says  the  government  publishes  very  bad 
news  to-night,  and  that  the  feeling  of  the  people  is  ter- 
rible. 

"  Trochu  admits  his  shocking  defeat,  and  Chanzy  is 
beaten,  losing  ten.  thousand  prisoners.  I  got  the  news 
of  the  defeat  of  the  latter  by  my  bag,  which  Bismarck  has 
sent  in  to-day  in  advance  of  time,  on  account,  probably,  of 
its  containing  such  bad  news.  But  as  I  give  out  no  news 
I  shall  not  let  that  out.  Nobody  has  paid  any  attention 
to  the  bombardment  to-day.  Dr.  Kern  thinks  we  may 
have  serious  trouble  here  in  France,  and  that  Trochu 
must  be  about  at  the  end  of  his  rope. 

"What  fearful,  fearful  times  we  have  fallen  upon. 

"  '  Alas  we  are  compelled  to  dine  on  news  of  human  blood, 
To  sup  on  groans  of  dying  and  the  dead.'  " 

Saturday  evening,  January  2ist,  i25th  day  of  the 
siege,  i  yth  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  I  have  been  very  busy  all  day  in  my  room  attending 
to  matters  connected  with  the  bag ;  only  went  out  after 
dark  for  a  little  walk  down  the  Champs  Elysees.  It  was 
about  as  dark  and  muddy  as  Main  Street,  Galena.  There 
is  talk  of  trouble  in  the  city,  as  people  are  very  much  ex- 
cited. Some  people  are  accusing  Trochu  of  being  crazy 
as  a  bedbug.  Nobody  knows  anything  of  what  actually 
took  place  at  the  sortie  last  Thursday.  There  are  vari- 
ous estimates  of  the  French  losses,  ranging  from  thirty- 
five  hundred  to  ten  thousand.  The  weather  has  been 
very  thick  and  foggy,  and  quite  warm." 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


323 


Sunday  evening,  January  22cl,  I26th  day  of  the  siege, 
1 8th  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  And  yet  another  week  has  rolled  around,  and  the  end 
seems  to  be  no  nearer.  Always  the  same  ill-fortune  for 
France.  The  bombardment  is  less  effective.  The  offi- 
cial report  says  only  eleven  persons  were  wounded  on  the 
i gth  inst.  The  Journal  Officiel  was  just  brought  in  with  a 
dispatch  from  Chanzy,  and  I  gather  from  it  that  his  army 
will  be  destroyed.  More  and  more,  worse  and  worse  ! 
His  is  the  principal  army  outside,  and  when  that  is  gone 
it  will  be  '  hard  sledding '  for  the  French.  And  at  last 
Trochu  is  dethroned,  having  remained  long  enough  to 
injure  the  cause.  Old  Vinoy  is  now  in  command,  but 
what  can  he  do  ?  He  seems  to  be  a  good  soldier  of  the 
old  school,  but  I  don't  see  that  he  can  do  anything  more 
than  capitulate.  Paris  will  not  agree  to  that  at  present. 
The  bombardment  seems  heavier  again,  but  we  are  get- 
ting used  to  it. 

"  (5'3°  p-M-)  At  two  this  afternoon  I  went  to  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  at  Dr.  Kern's,  to  consider 
Count  Bismarck's  answer  to  our  letter  in  regard  to  the 
bombardment  without  notice.  We  there  learned  of  the 
great  excitement  in  the  town.  There  were  great  crowds 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  yelling,  '  a  das  Trochu  /'  and  the 
Belleville  battalions  were  marching  through  the  streets 
demanding  the  Commune,  etc. 

"  Leaving  Dr.  Kern's  at  4  P.M.,  I  started  for  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  to  see  what  was  really  going  on.  Everywhere 
on  my  way  I  saw  straggling  companies  and  straggling 
squads  of  the  National  Guard,  and  great  crowds  of  people 
in  the  streets.  Descending  to  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  there 
were  yet  more  people,  all  moving  toward  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  or  standing  in  groups  engaged  in  earnest  talk. 
Within  two  squares  of  the  Hotel  the  streets  were  com- 


324 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


pletely  blocked  up  by  the  crowd,  and  our  carriage  could 
proceed  no  farther.  Beyond  there  was  a  dense  mass  of 
men,  women  and  children,  and,  still  farther  on,  the  street 
and  the  great  square  were  literally  packed  with  soldiers, 
all  standing  in  the  mud.  Here  we  met  an  acquaintance, 
a  young  surgeon  in  the  French  navy,  who  was  profoundly 
agitated  and  profoundly  depressed.  He  said  the  Breton 
Garde  Mobile  had  just  fired  on  the  crowd  and  killed  five 
persons,  and  that  nobody  knew  what  would  come  next, 
but  that,  at  any  rate,  France  was  '  finished.' 

"  On  returning,  the  streets  were  filled  with  excited 
people  all  making  their  way  toward  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 
Up  the  Champs  Elysees  large  numbers  of  the  troops  of 
the  line  and  the  National  Guard  were  drawn  up.  '  Mis- 
chief, thou  art  on  foot,'  in  my  judgment.  The  first 
blood  has  been  shed,  and  no  person  can  tell  what  a  half- 
starved  population  will  do.  Old  Vinoy  may  have  the 
nerve  to  put  down  the  mob  ;  if  he  have  not,  the  mob  will 
have  the  nerve  to  put  him  down.  To  me  it  appears  that 
we  have  reached  the  crisis,  but  in  these  times  it  won't  do 
to  predict.  It  may  turn  out  that  nobody  has  been  killed 
after  all.  I  am  now  going  out  to  dine  at  the  American 
ambulance." 

Monday,  January  23d,  i2yth  day  of  the  siege,  igth 
day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  Yesterday  was  another  dreadful  day  for  Paris,  and  as 
the  Journal  des  Debats  says,  'the  most  criminal  that  ever 
reddened  the  streets  of  Paris  with  blood.'  On  Saturday 
night  the  mob  made  an  attack  on  the  prison  of  Mazas. 
Flourens,  Pyat  and  others  of  the  revolutionists  of  the 
3  ist  of  October  were  released.  Yesterday  morning  the 
insurrectionists  seized  the  mairie  of  the  twentieth  arron- 
dissement  and  went  to  work  to  install  the  insurrection,  but 
they  were  soon  driven  out  by  some  companies  of  the 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


325 


National  Guard.  Along  in  the  afternoon  the  crowd, 
men,  women  and  children,  and  some  companies  of  the 
National  Guard,  surged  toward  the  Hotel  de  Ville  cry- 
ing, '  Donnez  nous  du  pain  ! ' 

"Some  of  these  went  into  the  neighboring  houses,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  a  regular  attack  was  made  on  the 
Hotel  de  Ville.  Many  shots  were  fired  and  explosive 
balls  and  bombs  were  hurled,  principally  from  the  win- 
dows. At  this  moment  the  gates  and  windows  of  the 
hotel  were  opened  and  the  Mobiles  fired  on  the  mob, 
killing  five  and  wounding  eighteen  ;  and  then  such  a 
scattering — these  wretches  flying  in  every  direction,  and 
crying,  '  Ne  tirez  plus  / '  and  in  twenty  minutes  all  was 
ended." 

Tuesday,  5.30  P.M.,  January  24tn,  i28th  day  of  the 
siege,  2Oth  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"A  regular  London  fog  and  a  day  for  the  '  blue  devils.' 
I  have  never  seen  such  a  gloom  rest  upon  the  city. 
Hardly  a  person  is  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  except  those 
who  are  cutting  down  the  great  trees  that  adorn  the 
avenues.  To-day  for  the  first  time  there  is  real  talk 
about  capitulation.  The  city  is  on  its  last  legs  for  food, 
and  then  there  are  whispers  of  further  disasters  outside. 
All  hope  of  relief  from  the  provinces  has  finally  died  out, 
and  the  question  is  seriously  asked,  What  good  now  all 
of  this  suffering  and  destruction  of  property  ?  The  bom- 
bardment of  the  forts  of  the  East  and  the  village  of  St. 
Denis  yesterday  and  last  night  was  very  violent,  and  that 
village  and  the  great  church,  the  burying-place  of  the 
kings,  have  been  knocked  all  to  pieces.  It  is  said  there 
has  been  but  little  fighting  to-day.  At  any  rate,  but  little 
firing  has  been  heard.  Some  interpret  this  in  the  sense 
of  a  talk  about  capitulation  which  is  going  on.  People 
are  beginning  to  prepare  for  the  coming  in  of  the  Ger- 


326  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

mans  by  hiding  their  valuables.  Antoine  just  tells  me 
that  thousands  of  the  people  from  St.  Denis  have  been 
driven  into  Paris,  and  that  they  are  now  in  the  streets 
without  shelter  and  without  bread." 

Wednesday,  January  25th,  i2Qth  day  of  the  siege,  2ist 
day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  According  to  the  military  report  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  bombarding  yesterday.  The  atmosphere  was  so 
heavy  that  we  did  not  hear  the  guns.  It  is  probably  the 
same  way  to-day  for  we  have  the  same  thick,  heavy  fog 
as  yesterday.  We  really  miss  this  good  old  bombardment 
and  feel  that  it  is  now  dull  and  stupid.  I  am  afraid  that 
Bismarck  is  failing  in  consideration  for  us.  He  ought  to 
order  the  fog  to  lift  so  that  we  can  hear  the  guns  and  be 
jolly.  To  be  sure,  the  sea  did  not  obey  the  order  of  that 
'  fine  English  gentleman,5  Canute,  but  old  Canute  was  no- 
body as  compared  with  Bismarck,  and  probably  if  B— 
had  only  said  the  word  the  fog  would  have  lifted.  Many 
people  at  the  legation  and  only  one  subject  to  talk  about. 
'  When  will  the  city  surrender?'  '  What  do  you  know  ?' 
'  What  will  the  Prussians  do  when  they  come  in  ? '  And 
so  on  we  go,  question  after  question,  until  I  finally  get 
away  and  go  down  town,  but  with  no  particular  object  in 
view,  only  to  'circulate.'  I  call  to  see  the  Barons  Roths- 
child more  frequently  than  anybody  else,  as  they  keep 
the  German  account  for  me.  They  are  most  agreeable 
and  intelligent  gentlemen,  and  well  posted  in  what  is 
going  on.  They  fully  appreciate  the  situation,  and  it  is 
appalling  enough.  Were  I  a  Frenchman  and  a  Parisian, 
I  hardly  know  how  it  would  be  possible  for  me  to  exist." 

Thursday   evening,   January   26th,    i3Oth    day   of   the 
siege,  22d  day  of  the  bombardment. 

"  Not  only  '  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,'  but  wars  and 
rumors  of  peace  to-day.      Paris  is  as  mild  as  new  milk. 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE.  327 

All  sorts  of  talk  about  peace  and  an  armistice,  and  every 
Frenchman  makes  things  out  precisely  as  he  wishes  or 
hopes.  The  Paris  newspapers  are  teeming  with  the  most 
absurd  reports,  but  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  man  in  the 
city  who  knows  anything  either  about  peace  or  an  armis- 
tice. But  something  must  come  soon  and  very  soon.  The 
reports  of  the  disasters  to  Generals  Chanzy,  Faidherbe 
and  Bourbaki  must  'settle  the  hash,'  as  old  Pete  Warren 
would  have  said.  Pete  was  an  old-fashioned  Democratic 
politician  in  Illinois  and  long  a  State  senator,  who  wore 
moccasins  and  hunted  bees  in  the  summer  season.  In 
the  winter  he  went  to  the  legislature  and  wore  a  suit  of 
linsey-woolsey.  Well,  Uncle  Pete  was  a  great  Douglas 
man  and  presided  at  the  caucus  which  nominated  him  for 
senator  the  first  time.  After  the  vote  had  been  taken,  he 
announced  the  result  as  follows :  '  Gentlemen,  Douglas  is 
nominated,  the  hash  is  settled,  and  the  caucus  adjourned/ 
Much  to  Uncle  Pete's  disgust,  the  legislature  once  agreed 
to  take  the  Quincy  Hotel  in  payment  for  the  indebtedness 
of  some  '  lame  duck,'  and  after  the  bill  had  passed,  he  ex- 
claimed, '  Now  you  have  bought  the  hotel  I  suppose  the 
State  of  Illinois  will  go  to  keeping  tavern,  by ! ' 

"  But  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  siege  and  bombard- 
ment of  Paris  ?  Nothing.  And  so  I  lay  down  my  pen  in 
the  hope  that  I  may  sleep  better  than  last  night.  The  day 
has  been  long  and  dreary,  and  what  a  dinner  for  a  white 
man  : — a  piece  of  baked  salt  pork,  more  salt  than  '  Lot's 
wife '  ever  dared  to  be  ;  one  mouthful  of  it  has  made  me 
so  thirsty  that  I  have  drank  a  carafe  of  water." 

Friday  evening,  January  27th,  I3ist  day  of  the  siege. 

"Hail,  mighty  day!  The  Journal  Officiel  this  morn- 
ing announces  that  we  are  to  have  an  armistice  upon 
certain  terms  which  are  shadowed  forth,  and  I  feel  that 
a  mountain  is  lifted  from  my  shoulders.  The  firing 


328  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

was  to  have  ceased  at  ten  o'clock  last  night,  but  they 
could  not  stop  it  until  half-past  eleven.  '  Not  a  gun 
was  heard '  to-day  and  the  most  profound  quiet  reigns. 
My  bag  came  in  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning,  and  I  have 
been  engaged  all  day.  We  all  want  to  know  the  terms 
of  the  armistice.  I  must  run  up  to  Brussels  at  the  earliest 
moment  after  the  railroad  is  open.  There  is  a  poor  pros- 
pect for  living  in  Paris  for  some  time  ;  no  provisions,  no 
fuel,  no  horses  or  means  of  locomotion.  If  it  can  only 
so  fall  out  that  peace  can  be  made  and  we  can  remain  in 
our  own  homes,  all  will  rejoice.  I  received  the  London 
papers  to  the  2Oth  instant,  and  the  New  York  papers  to 
the  7th  instant.  The  weather  is  again  cold  and  the  sky 
is  gray  and  sour.  The  people  are  on  the  very  brink  of 
starvation,  but  I  learn  to-night  that  the  army  will  turn 
over  some  of  its  bread  to  the  starving.  In  eight  days  I 
hope  we  shall  have  something  to  eat  once  more. 

"The  Journal  Officiel  gave  out  that  all  was  lost,  and 
that  the  outside  forces  were  not  approaching  Paris,  and 
that  the  subsistence  in  the  city  would  not  admit  of  any 
longer  delay  ;  that  in  the  then  existing  situation  the  gov- 
ernment found  itself  under  the  absolute  duty  of  negotiat- 
ing, and  that  the  negotiations  were  taking  place  at  that 
moment ;  that  it  was  not  possible  for  it  to  indicate  the 
details,  but  it  hoped  to  be  able  to  do  so  the  next  day ;  they 
could  say,  however,  that  the  principle  of  national  sover- 
eignty would  be  guaranteed  by  an  immediate  reunion  of 
an  assembly,  and  that  the  armistice  had  for  an  end  the 
convocation  of  that  assembly  ;  that  during  the  armistice 
the  German  army  would  occupy  the  forts,  but  would  not 
enter  into  the  enceinte  of  Paris.'' 

Saturday  evening,  January  28th,  i32d  day  of  the  siege. 

"  I  was  greatly  disappointed  this  morning  in  not  find- 
ing the  full  terms  of  the  armistice  in  the  Journal  Officiel. 


THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 


329 


Nothing  seems  to  have  been  signed,  but,  at  any  rate,  we 
have  a  suspension  of  arms.  Paris  is  no  longer  bom- 
barded, and  that  must  be  a  great  relief  in  the  assailed 
quarters.  The  people  will  now  be  coming  back  to  their 
homes  in  the  city  ;  but  to  those  who  have  their  splendid 
homes  in  the  many  little  villages  that  surround  Paris, 
what  destruction  and  what  horror !  The  houses  that 
have  not  been  burned  or  torn  to  pieces  by  shells  have 
been  broken  into  and  all  the  furniture  destroyed  ;  and 
it  will  take  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  repair  the  damage 
done  in  Paris  proper.  The  Prussians  utterly  failed  in 
the  bombardment.  They  have  not  hastened  matters 
an  hour,  but  have  subjected  themselves  to  the  com- 
plaint of  having  bombarded  the  great  city  without  notice. 
Having  a  slight  cold,  I  have  not  been  out  of  my  house 
to-day,  and  have  only  seen  a  few  persons.  It  seems 
that  a  portion  of  the  National  Guard  made  a  demonstra- 
tion against  the  armistice  last  night,  but  the  cavalry 
charged  upon  them.  Some  people  say  that  there  will 
now  be  no  fooling  since  General  Vinoy  has  command 
of  the  Army  of  Paris.  Trochu  was  too  weak  for  any- 
thing, weak  as  the  Indian's  dog  which  had  to  lean 
against  a  tree  to  bark.  Voilci !  the  effects  of  the  armis- 
tice. I  have  already  a  piece  of  fresh  beef,  and  the  price 
of  chickens  has  been  reduced  from  $8  to  $6  apiece." 

Sunday  evening,  January  2Qth,  ist  day  of  the  armis- 
tice. 

"  Though  we  have  had'  a  practical  armistice  since 
Thursday  night,  it  was  only  signed  last  night.  It  ap- 
peared this  morning  in  the  Journal  Officiel,  and  it  has 
been  sought  for  and  read  by  the  whole  town.  It  is  an 
appalling  document  to  the  French  ;  but,  after  all,  what  can 
they  do  !  Paris  has  held  out  well  and  suffered  much,  but 
there  is  a  great  history  to  be  written  of  this  memorable 


330  THE  END   OF  THE  SIEGE. 

siege.  After  all,  Paris  has  played  an  indifferent  part. 
With  a  half  million  soldiers,  but  few  effective  blows  were 
struck  in  four  months  and  a  half.  Trochu  undoubtedly 
proved  himself  the  weakest  and  most  incompetent  man 
ever  entrusted  with  such  great  affairs.  It  is  a  question 
how  the  people  are  going  to  take  this  armistice.  The 
soldiers  are  coming  into  the  city  to-day,  and  the  streets 
have  been  full  of  them  wandering  about  without  organi- 
zation. I  hear  to-night  that  the  people  broke  into  the 
great  central  market  to-day  and  seized  everything  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on.  The  market  men  were  de- 
manding the  most  extortionate  prices  for  everything  that 
was  eatable,  and  refused  to  make  the  least  concession  to 
the  poor,  starving  people.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  said  people  '  went  for '  them,  and  I  am  rather  pleased 
than  otherwise.  I  took  a  walk  this  evening  up  to  our 
residence,  No.  75,  and  all  the  way  it  was  the  desolation 

of  desolations.  This  evening  G and  I  dined  with 

the  Moultons  and  had  roast  beef  for  dinner.  In  a  few 
days  I  hope  we  shall  have  something  from  the  outside  to 
eat ;  still  I  have  a  '  stock  on  hand '  for  a  month  yet,  such 
as  it  is." 

Monday  noon,  January  3Oth,  2d  day  of  the  armistice. 

''  I  don't  know  yet  whether  or  not  I  shall  send  out  my 
bag  to-morrow  morning.  I  have  sent  Antoine  to  see 
about  the  opening  of  the  railroads.  Unsealed  letters  are 
permitted  to  go  out  and  come  in.  People  can  go  out  on 
a  permission  procured  from  the  French  authorities,  their 
passes  to  be  viseed  by  the  Prussians.  There  is  nothing 
said  about  the  people  coming  in.  We  are  now  entering 
upon  a  new  and  interesting  phase  of  things,  and  the 
world  will  watch  with  anxiety  the  progress  of  events  in 
France.  I  have  great  apprehensions.  The  number  of 
delegates  to  the  convention,  seveYi  hundred  and  thirty,  is 


THE  END   OF  THE  SEIGE.  331 

entirely  too  large,  and  the  time,  seven  days,  entirely  too 
short  in  which  to  do  anything.  And  suppose  peace  were 
made,  then  what  ?  What  form  of  government  is  to  be 
ordained?  Is  there  to  be  a  republic,  or  will  the  Orleanists 
mount  the  throne  ?  We  must  wait ;  speculation  is  sim- 
ply childish.  The  papers  this  morning  swallow  the  armis- 
tice, but  with  wry  faces.  The  government  of  the  Na- 
tional Defence  is  denounced  without  stint,  and  they  have 
commenced  caricaturing  the  members  of  the  government 
as  they  caricatured  the  members  of  the  falling  dynasty. 
We  had  a  slight  snow-storm  last  night  and  it  is  quite 
cold  this  morning,  with  a  fog  so  thick  that  we  can  hardly 
see  a  single  square,  and  so  dark  as  I  write  that  I  shall 
have  to  have  a  lamp  lighted  at  high  noon." 

An  armistice  having  been  entered  upon  and  the  siege 
practically  raised,  this  is  the  last  entry  of  my  diary,  en 
regie,  of  the  siege.  But  from  this  time  I  recorded  the 
most  imcortant  passing  events  on  loose  memoranda,  or 
in  my  private  and  official  correspondence,  so  that  I  have 
a  pretty  full  record  of  all  that  took  place  from  day  to 
day. 


^RARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


001  014468     1 


